What They Couldn't See
by anberry
Summary: Season 3 Remake. Phoebe likes Cole, but what if Cole liked Prue? And what if Prue didn't like Cole? It was there, it's just that they couldn't see it... AU, as you can probably guess. R&R peeps! Rating might change.
1. A Tentative Smile

**A/N: **_Weee! I'm on a roll man! ^.^ Okay, so this one's obviously a bit longer and it's not exactly an episode in Charmed. It's what I hope, kind of like a missing scene or a prologue, so to speak. I hope the inspiration keeps on coming, coz there are HEAPS of episodes in Season 3. This is pretty much going to be kind of AU, sticking to the plot line of the episodes. As the title implies, it's about what all the producers and writers couldn't see. I hope you guys like it!_

**DISCLAIMER:**_ Pffft... Like you'd believe me if I said I did own them. XD Unfortunately, I don't own FM Static either. *sigh* Their songs are awesomely awesome though!_

**Chapter 1: A Tentative Smile**

_**I met you at the club that night  
**__**Where I was spinning records  
**__**And my heart said hey now, hey now  
**__**Hey now, hey now.**_

_**You said you were pleased to meet me  
**__**Through the sweet smell of your perfume  
**__**And blew me away now, away now  
**__**Away now, away now**_

_**-**_** Secret Song (FM Static)**

Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney and century-old half demon, half human, took the three manila paper folders from his desk. Shifting the lamp on his right to focus more on the papers, he eyed through them again.

The files on his desk piled up like a rocket ship ready to launch. Launching where to, one would never know. It was already ten-thirty four on the clock by his wall, but he needed to get these done. A guy beating up his wife with the wife not willing to testify, a missing kid who turned out to have gone with one of his divorced parents, ensuing another custody battle… Most of them were so irritating, it made him question why he even bothered with the appearances. I mean, one energy ball and problem solved, right? He had more important matters to deal with anyway, three in particular.

"_We have heard many things about you Belthazor" the dark voice under the hooded cloak said. "We believe you have been of exceptional skill in all your assignments?"_

"_Well, you heard right" he answered._

"_Indeed. Then, this particular assignment should be one to your liking I suppose." the one on his right said. "What do you think of three powerful witches?"_

"_Three… That should be easy. Unless of course…" he hesitated. There must be something more to their proposal._

"_Unless of course they are the most powerful witches to be prophesied? Yes, you do well to be cautious." the third one answered._

"_You want me to kill the Charmed Ones?" he asked, although it was more of a confirmation rather than an inquiry._

"_Yes. You will be greatly rewarded, not to mention the glory you will receive and enjoy once you have killed the most powerful witches in a thousand years…"_

Yes… He would very much enjoy the glory. The rewards were not bad either, but those paled in comparison to the reputation he would earn, being the most powerful demon in the Underworld, even to rival that of the Source. It would all be worth the effort he had exerted over the last six months gathering information, establishing an identity and patching up any holes to his disguise. Now, he would just need to wait for the right moment to strike. It was all about careful planning, it was the way he worked, and so far, it had never failed him. Other than that, force and intimidation would most likely get him to where he wanted to be.

The three sisters' pictures cascaded through the file. Re-reading their bios, their work and anything and everything he had gathered about them, there were many ways he could infiltrate them, but he had to find a key weakness.

_Their heel, you could say, if they were Achilles._

Men would most likely be the way to go. Looking at their track record, seducing them would be a very plausible option if he didn't get them in any way or other. There was a reason why demons were always handsome in their human form. It was what they had in common with flesh-eating flowers. Like any predator, they needed to be attractive to naturally draw their prey to them. In any case though, if his plans went well, he wouldn't even need to try and get close to any of them. Maybe not even reveal his human self to them in such an overt way, just the fact that he was an ADA would be enough. Also, their history with unsolved cases would be of much value to him.

_Whitaker Berman, Mark Chao, two boys kidnapped, the series of unexplained murders of the prosecutors of a criminal in Alcatraz, a robbery at Bucklands, kidnappings at P3, even the death of Andrew Trudeau, a police officer. The list just went on and on…_

And he'd make sure there were many more, if he could help it. Soon enough, they would need a lawyer on their case, and he'd be right there like fate's blessing. It would only be a matter of whom to seduce. Perusing the files, he noted their powers. The two oldest ones had active powers, and rather powerful ones at that, and yet the youngest one…

_Premonition? Interesting… Maybe I can scare the hell out of her in a vision._

He chuckled. She would be of no consequence, so long as she was not with her sisters. Alone and vulnerable, just the way he liked his witches. With the second one, he would have no problems either. It took a lot more to freeze him than just the wave of some witch's hand… The oldest one though would be a problem. Telekinesis. Maybe Shimmering could do the trick, but he would not be able to run away from it forever. She appeared to be the strongest one of the three: clean-cut record, straight-A student, successful, determined…

_Beautiful…_

He did have to admit that all three of them had their own beauty to boast of. Seducing and killing them would be more enjoyable then. The thought of course did not have anything to do with feelings or anything of the sort, he reassured himself. He was a member of the male species after all. He could appreciate the beauty of women where it was due.

Focusing on his strategy, he opted for the youngest sister. She seemed to be the most irrational of them all and was drawn to danger, seeing she had had a smuggler for a boyfriend, and many others at that… Clay was it? If anything went wrong, he would have a back up plan.

_You can never be too careful._

Looking at the clock again, he packed up the files and touched them with his hand, making them shimmer off where it would be safe. He still had some time to do a bit of recon. It never hurt to keep an eye on things now, did it?

* * *

P3 was bustling, as usual. The lights flashed as people danced the night away, the band strumming into the next song, the drums setting the beat for everyone to bang their heads to. It was Prue's turn to watch over the club tonight, ever since Piper disappeared off with her boyfriend.

_If you can hear me 'up there' Piper, you better come down soon!_ she yelled in her mind, directing her thoughts to the roof, half hoping they'd hear her. It was just not right to disappear for a whole month just like that! Even if it were with Leo, where she could be perfectly safe. Even if it were Heaven itself! She had responsibilities for crying out loud!

_Like her own club to run! Sisters to feed!_

Ever since Piper had gone away, they had barely eaten a decent homemade meal through the month. She and Phoebe could cook obviously, but it was different when the chef in the house was a blood relative. Their expenses on takeaways, meals at restaurants outside the office and many other things were going to take their toll soon. Thank god for Abby though, who could run the club with minor supervision. It had been a bit hard to explain her disappearance without any notice to the staff…

_What do I say to them? That my sister went off to Heaven with her boyfriend who's an angel? Souvenirs anyone? They'll bring you back a cloud!_

Looking after the club was quite stressful. Although Abby could handle the bar and most of the maintenance, she and Phoebe still had to come up with the bands to play at the club. For the first two nights, there had only been music blaring from the stereos, with no live guitarists whatsoever, until they found Piper's lists and scrap papers in a drawer in her room. She had apparently already made a list of potential bands to come play at their place, so all they needed to do was contact them and do the sound check during the day so they could play at night. The list was limited though, and they spread out the bands, mostly making them play during Fridays and the weekends where there were more people out partying. It worked well, and for the rest of the month, they managed to hire a pretty good DJ, Justin, a guy Phoebe met at college.

Tonight was one of the only nights she could finally have some semblance of peace. There had been a minimum of demons coming out, which was unusually quite fortunate for them. This had actually made her even more suspicious… There was always a catch to these things, especially when they were this lucky.

"_It's like the perfect time to make demons come after us!" Phoebe had said. "Just two witches, with the third sister nowhere to be found, no Power of Three… They should be having a hey day by now!"_

She was right, it was all too good to be true. Maybe demons were planning something bigger, deadlier… Except having constant vigilance and always being on her toes was getting a bit too tiring though. Hence Phoebe making her look after the club tonight. Apparently, pouring through the Book of Shadows to be prepared wasn't a healthy pastime.

_Yeah, as if delayed martini orders are going to help me relax._

Glancing around, she found her date.

_Duty date… Again… _the voice in her head droned on with an exasperated voice.

Okay, maybe this one wasn't so bad. He was hot, that was for sure. Strong jaw, well-built body, neatly-cut dark hair and the cutest dimples she had ever seen every time he smiled. Physically, he was just too good to resist. Except his eyes. His eyes reminded her of someone too painful to remember. Especially when she was supposed to be getting over him instead of constantly thinking of what could have been. She mentally kicked herself again for having asked him out when she knew the shade of his eyes were exactly the same as Andy's. That was just wrong. So wrong.

_Oh well… You made your bed. You better sleep in it now…_

"Hey Jake! Over here!" she waved at him, her voice going through the noise of the crowd and the music.

_And there goes his smile._

She could multi-task: looking after the club and dating at the same time should be alright. She had gone through worse.

Jake walked over to the bar where she was sitting and sat on the stool next to her.

"So… This is the almighty P3 I've heard about so much." he said while ordering a drink.

Jake was new in town, moving from Arizona to San Francisco on his on-call job.

"Yup. Although almighty, I'm not so sure about." she smiled "It's kinda hanging on the brink of disaster every few minutes."

"Really now? Well, if this is disaster, it looks pretty good" he said, looking at her. By the way he was eyeing her though, she got the feeling he wasn't talking about the club at all.

She chuckled. "Uhuh, wait till you see it in all it's full-flung glory…"

"Oh, I would definitely like to see that…" he added, taking a sip of his drink. "Say, care to dance?"

* * *

Cole entered P3 and went down the stairs. He wondered which one of the sisters would be present tonight. So far he had only seen two of them, the oldest and the youngest. It seemed like the middle one had taken a holiday of some sort.

Finding the couches, he sat down and took in the ambiance of the place. The posters over the walls announced a band called FM Static, not that he would care… Petty human details were the least of his worries right now. A waiter approached him with a tray of drinks and he took one of them, settling in the couch a bit more while taking a sip. The drink tasted sweet and tangy on his tongue. He continued observing the room, scanning for any of the sisters.

_Voila._

There she was. The eldest one, Prudence. But, by the way she was dancing, she didn't seem to be living up to her name at all. She was wearing black tight leather pants, with a backless halter top showing off her porcelain white skin. The guy she was dancing with seemed to be watching something else on the other side of the room for the moment, as if the beautiful siren in front of him didn't exist at all. Her hips swayed to the music, her arms and her hands raised up as she felt the beat. She was enthralling to watch, every move sensuous and fluid.

Prue felt someone's eyes on her, and she looked up at Jake. He was looking at something behind her. Nope, that was not it then. And yet she still had that tingling feeling on her spine, the one that kept telling her someone was watching her. Looking around the shimmying bodies around her, she looked for anyone who might be looking back. Everyone seemed to be on their own worlds though, worlds only connected by the same dance floor. No one was paying attention to her much, except for the guy sitting by the couch.

She kept dancing, making eye contact with him, and he gave her a faint smile while taking another sip from his drink. She felt a bit self-conscious and broke the connection, trying to turn her attention back to Jake in front of her. His eyes though felt like they were burning a hole through her clothes and she was drawn back to him. He was still watching her intently and she gave him a tentative smile but broke off contact again. She wasn't supposed to be flirting with a guy while on a date with _another_ guy.

_Especially when said guy's dancing right in front of you! What's wrong with me today?_

She shook the feeling on her spine, getting her head straight and focused more on Jake. The next time she looked on the guy's direction, he wasn't there anymore, like he'd disappeared when she ignored him.

_Well that's strange... _And if anything, strange would always visit them whenever it could, as if they were the honey in a city full of bees.

"Who were you looking for?" Jake asked.

"Huh?" Prue answered, feeling a bit disoriented. She could swear he was there a minute before.

"You've been distracted for a couple minutes. Am I that boring?" he smiled at her. Even though he was clearly joking, the question _did _have some semblance of hurt feelings behind it.

"Oh no, no, no…" she answered, emphasizing the 'no's. "Sorry. I just thought I saw someone I knew, that's all."

Still dancing with Jake, she felt a tug at the back of her halter top. Turning around, she saw nothing. Just another couple dancing behind her.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Jake.

"Ah don't worry about it, it was probably an accident…" she answered. Even though she was having fun with him and he was clearly showing some concern for her, she still couldn't shake the feeling of that other guy.

"The band's pretty good!" he said through the loud music.

"Thanks! It took us ages to-" she stopped mid-sentence. There it was again. The tugging. The _nerve_ of some people, really.

"HEY YOU CREE-" she turned around sharply this time, ready to give whoever it was a piece of her mind.

Her face bumped into a nice silky material draped over what she could only imagine was a wall. Interestingly enough, the wall also smelt of a nice perfume she couldn't exactly place, but wouldn't mind staying there long enough to figure it out.

Suddenly remembering why she turned around so fast, she backed up a little and looked up. It was that guy. The one who had been looking at her so intently from the couch.

_Well THAT explains why he was smiling so much._

Feeling anger welling up within her, she pushed him with her arms.

Hard.

So hard, he made a beeline cutting through the crowd and onto the other side of the room, crashing on the wall and breaking the table full of stacked up glasses on the process.

_Oh CRAP!_

Everyone stared at her. The whole club fell to silence to gape at the guy lying by the broken glass. Prue looked around sheepishly at the crowd that had stopped dancing to watch the spectacle. How the hell she was going to explain this, she had no idea.

"Urm… I guess those nights at the gym are paying off…?" she said, not really aiming for anybody.

How would anyone believe her anyway, when she couldn't even believe what bull crap was coming out of her mouth? Wait. Maybe there was a better way…

"That's for trying to take my top off you JERK!" Prue screamed at him. "Security!"

There, that didn't look so bad… At least it would take the attention away from her and her apparently incredible muscles and super strength. It worked. One of the bouncers from outside, Marco, came in and carried him off. The band continued playing and the people, although a bit shaken, started dancing again as if nothing happened. Thank god for humanity's superficiality.

"Well, remind me _never_ to piss _you_ off!"

The comment brought her back down from her thoughts. Jake was still there. Right.

"Seriously! That guy!" she said.

"For what it's worth, I would've beaten him up for you." he grinned at her. Really, he was adorable. She couldn't understand why she wasn't drooling at him right now. "Not that you needed help of course… Which gym do you go to again?"

* * *

He hadn't seen that one coming. Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought. The little witch hadn't been as guarded or in control of her powers as he'd initially assumed. That slip had been like some miracle to him. Although at first he had been planning to sweep her feet off by beating up the sleaze who _had _been trying to take her top off (maybe he should have waited until the guy succeeded…?) and avoid the additional pain it caused being a human, this could be a good consolation prize. If she was the oldest, then that meant the rest of her sisters were not going to be as experienced as demons thought the Charmed Ones were. But then again, it never hurt to be cautious. There must be a reason why so many before him had failed.

She had smiled at him though. A beautiful, shy and tentative smile. It wasn't an outright invitation, but that would be enough for a night's work. Soon enough, he'd make a move and there would be nothing to stop him.

_Soon…_

**A/N: **_Okay now go and press that button right there and review. ^.^ Thanks by the way for those who even made an effort and sent me a message just to review my other story when the button didn't work. You guys are awesome! _


	2. How Far?

**A/N: **_Okie. This is the part where I'll be sticking as closely to the plot line and the script as possible, but not too much to infringe copyright. It's just a bit tricky trying to draw the line between what's my imagination and the actual writers' imaginations. XD If you haven't watched this episode, you will kind of have to. I don't know if it'll make much sense, coz I've skipped so many scenes and added stuff of my own. _

_It's based on the first episode of Season 3, 'The Honeymoon's Over', where they fight off the Guardians and Cole is officially introduced as a cast member. I didn't write the ending of the episode here, so if you wanna know what happens next, go watch it on Youtube ^.^ It's all there, the username's Powerofthree4 and she's got all the eps till Season 7 I think. _

**DISCLAIMER:** _Blah-di-blaah-di-blah… Don't own them. Never did, never will. Don't own New Found Glory either or any of their songs. Although I like to think I do… XD_

**Chapter Two - How Far?**

_**And I can tell you're going through the motion  
**__**I figured you were acting out your part,  
**__**Once again we're playing off emotion  
**__**Which one of us will burn until the end?**_

_**- All Downhill From Here (New Found Glory)**_

Prue and Phoebe took their jackets and ran out the manor for Prue's car. Darryl had just suddenly cut off the phone call. Him being in danger was a minor understatement.

_**Guardians:  
**__This symbol of darkness  
__indicates the presence  
__of a great evil.  
__An opening by which demons  
__known as the Guardians  
__steal an innocent soul.  
__In exchange, the Guardian  
__offers protection  
__of the mortal evil  
__during his time on earth. _

Seriously, even if he was a cop and had the biggest machine gun in the world, he wouldn't be able to fend off something that didn't respond to mere human ammunition. Besides, if they were that easy to defeat, why would the world need witches then?

The Book of Shadows had said something about vanquishing the Guardian like a vampire. Not that they were Buffy or anything, but they'd probably manage right? They were witches, for crying out loud. It didn't require the Power of Three, so they weren't too screwed yet. Phoebe had been showing her concern quite openly for the past week, approaching a whole month since Piper left. They did have her telekinesis and astral projection, and Phoebe's premonitions would most likely save them from mortal danger, but without Piper, they wouldn't be able to vanquish demons with only The Power of Two. Was there even such a thing? Phoebe had every right to be worried, but if Prue started worrying and being pessimistic as well, then they would really be helpless.

Prue turned the corner as fast as she could without forcing the car too much. Phoebe opened the car door just barely after the car had even stopped. Within a few seconds, they were inside the club craning their necks above the crowd to look for any signs of Darryl. Phoebe spotted a door on the other side of the dance floor and signaled Prue to that direction. Making their way through the dancing crowd, they reached a dark alley way.

_Oh god…_

There was a body on the concrete floor. Prue and Phoebe dashed to reach her. She had the mark on her forehead, an inverted triangle. She was already dead. Glancing behind them to look for anything else they might have missed, they caught a bald guy with what looked like a dagger in midair ready to stab someone on the floor unconscious.

"Darryl" said Phoebe, recognizing the body. "Prue!"

Moving fast, Prue waved her hand sending the guy flying onto a big metal garbage container and they both ran for the body on the ground.

"He's alive" said Phoebe after checking his pulse.

"Uh, I think I found the Guardian," Prue said glancing apprehensively at the guy she had just flung.

It wasn't the guy exactly. His corporeal body was actually unconscious and still lying down, but there was another _man_, or whatever it was that vaguely looked like a man, coming out of him; kind of like a soul half-way separated from his mortal body. And like the picture in the Book, he had an inverted triangle on his forehead.

"Okay, get rid of it!" said Phoebe in a panicky voice

_Something… Anything. Oh, pointy bar!_ she thought as she flung the bar to stab him. And stab it did, except it did not do much damage while going through the demon. It was like he was a ghost.

"Uh oh,"

"Wait, I thought you said it was like a vampire? Why does he seem more like a ghost?" Phoebe asked, her voice going up a notch.

"I might've misread that part…" she answered.

"I'm sorry?" her sister's voice raised in indignation.

Prue just gestured at her saying that was not the point. There was a bald ghost coming at them with a curvy knife. This was definitely _not_ the time to discuss such minor technicalities.

_Okay, yeah, maybe an important technicality._

The Guardian rose higher into the air and approached them, dagger on his hand, ready to take their souls next.

"Oh… Okay! Aim for the rune!"

Prue flung the other half of the bar she'd thrown before where Phoebe was pointing at, nailing his forehead. His see-through body filled with thunder and self-combusted. It was so satisfying when the demon went out with a bang… Although, it was a bitch to clean up.

"Okay, if Piper ever comes back, I'm going to kill her!" said Phoebe.

* * *

Prue, Darryl and Phoebe looked at each other uncomfortably. After Darryl had regained his consciousness, they called the Police Department, which called the appropriate agencies to come over at the crime scene. The ambulance had come over and the medics gave all three of them a check up, but mostly focused on Darryl. His colleagues were also making forensic reports on the dead girl. Phoebe's premonitions were very useful, but sometimes they were just too cryptic or would not give away the full picture. This time, it had only focused on Darryl, who was the one in immediate danger. Prue and Phoebe felt sorry they didn't make it in time for the girl. After the check ups, they waited for the emergency officer to leave before they discussed anything. They knew the question had been coming. Phoebe had already showed her dislike for being a witness, but after Darryl's explanation, they could clearly not take that option. Emilio, the bald guy, could actually get away if they didn't testify. Apparently, murdering someone and attempting to murder another person wasn't enough to send him to jail. What's worse, he'd seen them using their powers to defeat him. Even though most people would think he was a nut job, they could _not_ leave loose ends just like that.

"What are we supposed to say to them?"

Prue looked at Phoebe. It was the old-age question they'd been asking themselves for almost three years now. Why couldn't just people not worry about details of how and where and just be happy that everything was fine now?

"I mean, the truth isn't exactly going to sit well with them. They might even consider putting _us_ in jail." Phoebe continued, looking at Darryl.

"She's right. We can't testify without putting our secret in danger. It would be way too easy to let something slip, especially when some _things_ can _not_ be explained." Prue concurred.

"You just need to get your stories straight." Darryl stated.

_Yeah, you try doing that! _Prue thought.

"You mean, lie." Phoebe deadpanned

Maybe it was possible, but it would be really tricky. This was one of those times when their supposed Whitelighter could be of much help. Wasn't he supposed to come when they needed it anyway? So much for being a guardian angel!

"We'd have to explain why Darryl called _us_ though." Prue realized. That would be a problem indeed. Why would he be calling two sisters while chasing a bad guy anyway?

"I'll just tell them I was checking up on you two."

"While on duty?" Phoebe asked.

"It's possible. They wouldn't really need many details about that part unless I died." he replied. "And clearly, I am not, thanks to you guys."

"Okay… So we pretty much just came looking for you because your call was cut off and we were worried." Prue stated. "And then…"

"And then we kicked Emilio's ass. Although we came in too late for that poor girl." Phoebe finished, glancing at the stretcher that was being loaded onto the ambulance.

"What's he so happy about?" asked Prue, referring to Emilio who was manically laughing inside the police car. "It's not like he's got his guardian demon to protect him anymore."

It was bizarre. Had he lost it already? It wouldn't be too surprising considering a demon had lived inside of him for who knows how long, but there was something definitely eerie about that. He was busted, he was going to jail. Unless he had buddies there to party with, you wouldn't think he'd be too happy about it, much less laughing is ass off.

"It doesn't matter, so long as you testify." Darryl commented. "Here comes the ADA."

Prue shifted a little to see the guy properly, while Phoebe turned around. He wasn't bad. Not bad at all… Except his face was way too familiar for her comfort. Why did it feel like she'd met him before?

"Ladies. My name is Cole Turner and I'm the Assistant District Attorney assigned to this case." the guy said, introducing himself. "I was wondering if either of you saw what happened here."

_Cole… Cole… No it doesn't ring a bell. But his face… Definitely familiar. Where have I seen him before?_ Prue frowned while she raked her head, trying to subdue the nagging feeling. It was like she'd forgotten a chunk of her memory. _A very important chunk indeed. What's wrong with me these days?_

And then it clicked. Although to her ears it was more like there had been a sudden crack on the Earth's surface. Before she could say anything though, Phoebe had been way ahead of her.

"I did!" she said, a little bit too perkily for Prue's taste.

She rolled her eyes. That was just _so… _Phoebe. She would've stopped her but she was already gone, probably flirting her ass off. Although she had every right to hate him, she could still understand her sister's eagerness. He _was_ cute. Why hadn't she noticed that before?

_And ALSO, a perverted sleaze ball! Don't you dare forget that part! _the voice in her head added.

True. Wow. Their attorney was the guy who had deliberately tried to take her top off. This was going to be fun…

* * *

Cole watched the witch in front of him. Phoebe, was it? She looked exactly like in the pictures, except maybe for the hair. It had dark blonde highlights. She must've dyed it recently then… If anything, it actually suited her. Getting to work, he asked all of the basic questions: what time they got there, what did they see first… The order of events, specifically taking down the notes for the case. He _did _know how to do his job, of course. It was just really fortunate for him to have met them on _this_ particular moment and at _this_ particular occasion. How fortunate indeed.

"We got there around three minutes after Inspector Darryl's phone call got cut off," she started answering. "And we tried looking for him inside the club first before going outside at the back…"

While paying attention to what she was saying, he did not fail to notice the surprised look on the other Halliwell's face. He had to smile when he saw she had recognized him. Her face had this nice mixture of indignation, anger and… was that a flicker of restraint he'd seen?

Suddenly her head turned on their direction. She was probably just checking on her sister when her eyes widened and turned away again, as if she'd gotten burnt. For a split millisecond, their eyes locked. Amused at the turn of events he directed his attention smiling back at Phoebe, who had been relating the happenings with quite an amount of detail.

"… and then we called you guys." Phoebe concluded.

Good thing he was already smiling when she looked back at him. It didn't seem too obvious he had been distracted there for a moment nor had she noticed he had been looking at her sister instead of her.

"Thank you. This will help very much with the case," he said, writing down the weapon's name and the basic events.

"Glad I could help" she said to him.

"Do you mind if I ask more questions later, if I think of anything else?" he asked. "This should be enough, but you never know…"

"Oh sure, anytime!" Phoebe grinned even more.

"Thanks. See you tomorrow!" he said, putting the notepad in his pocket and flashing her another kind smile before turning around to get to his car.

Now he could retreat. It was a bit slow, but surely he would succeed. He couldn't get too close to the oldest Halliwell yet. She might cause quite a ruckus and ruin his chances with Phoebe. If he'd read her hesitation right, Prudence would not be telling Phoebe about what had transpired last week anytime soon. If she did, well… It was not like it would ruin his chances of killing them. He would just have to be more subtle. It _would_ help if they were more receptive of him. Actually, he wouldn't mind if they were receptive of him at all. If only he weren't supposed to kill them, they might have actually gotten along quite well.

* * *

She had told Phoebe… Or at least tried anyway. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her. It was just that there hadn't been a single appropriate moment to 'un-infatuate' her. Not that anything could actually get through any of their heads these days. What, with Piper and Leo suddenly coming back from their one-month trip as if only a day had passed, or the fact that the court trial had been a disaster, there wasn't much room left for anything else.

Emilio _had _been arrested but also released, and with one of the most feeble excuses to boot. He got away because they did not have the stupid _weapon:_ the athame the Guardian had used, which combusted itself into a million tiny pieces along with its demonic owner. It's not as if they would be able to fingerprint scans on it anyway since the guy was a ghost, but to _release_ someone who was _clearly_ a criminal with the fact that they didn't have the _weapon_? They had _two witnesses. _TWO. That was just _way_ too suspicious. They had to have been helping him or something. Now, what they couldn't understand was, which ones were the demons in league with Emilio?

And then Phoebe actually _liked_ Cole. She'd said 'maybe', but if she knew her sister at all, that 'maybe' had already something budding to back it up.

"_All I know is Cole is an angel. He was awesome in that court room yesterday," Phoebe said "It's just nice to run into someone that's not a college boy. More years, less hormones."_

She looked so relaxed (or as relaxed as one could be on this given situation) whenever either of them mentioned him. If only he were as nice a guy as she'd initially thought he was, then maybe she could be thoroughly happy for her. For now though, all she could do was look out for her. Telling her now would only make them argue with each other since she would probably not listen to her and attribute her worrying to the nerves over these past few weeks. She'd be the paranoid one. Yay.

Turning the wheel of her car to make a right turn around the corner, she had another set of matters to deal with right now.

_Sisterly matters, of course…_

As if two problems weren't enough. Piper would need her, or at least needed someone level-headed to talk to. Their 'Welcome Home' argument before did not look pretty, and for Leo and her to argue like that, it must've been something pretty big.

Parking round the back of P3, she turned off the engine of the car and took the keys. Still preoccupied with the thoughts in her head, she opened the door, not noticing the person standing right behind her. She turned around, and funnily enough, she bumped into him.

"You seem to get a kick out of doing that," the guy said.

Recognizing the familiar situation, not to mention the familiar cologne, she backed up and took the first form of Aikido. It was Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney and pervert.

"Hey, hey… No need to use your super powers on me!" he said joking, raising his hands in mock surrender.

Prue stiffened even more at his comment. "What super powers?"

"You know… Your martial arts powers. I still have a bruise from that night."

_Nice save, man. _Cole thought, _Just enough to catch her, but not too much so she'll kick your ass._

_He suspects. Oh my god, he suspects. Calm down, calm down! It was just a snide comment. He couldn't possibly know!_ Prue repeatedly chanted in her mind. If worse came to worst and he was a demon, she could make a run for it inside P3. At least Piper would be there and she could freeze him.

"You deserved it," Prue said, still on her stance. "And don't think being a lawyer makes up for it."

He chuckled. "I'm not here to fight, I swear!" he told her, "You can put the guns down…"

_Well at least not yet , anyway. _

She looked at him warily. He seemed to be harmless. She'd managed to fling him across the room once, so she was sure her powers worked on him. She lowered her stance very slowly, as if she were dealing with a free-prancing tiger.

"If you make _one _move, I'll-"

"Yeah, okay, okay… No moves," he grinned. "I was actually here to talk about the trial…"

"Right," she said dismissively. "What about it?"

"Well, seeing as it didn't really go so well yesterday…"

"Hah, yeah. Him getting away was a little disappointing," she said, rubbing his failure in.

"I was _wondering _if there was anything else that you guys might know about where the weapon was," he interrupted conversationally, leaning on her car. "I mean… Although Sloan was an asshole, he _did_ kind of make a point."

"Are you saying we're _lying_?" Prue crossed her arms in front of her, making her voice and expression as offended as possible.

"No, no… I just thought that maybe you'd forgotten about something. Like, I don't know… Where the- what was it? The a… ath-"

"Athame," she clarified.

"Yes, where the athame could have flown off to."

"I didn't really see it." Prue answered, "I mean, after he fell unconscious on that dumpster, we ran to see if Darryl was okay."

"Uhuh… Yeah," he said, frowning. "Why were you there again?"

The question annoyed her. They'd already answered the question countless of times. Couldn't two women care for a friend at two o'clock in the morning? "I don't know! Why did you try to take my top off?"

"Don't dodge the question"

"Well, we already told you, didn't we? We thought he was dead. His phone suddenly went off while talking to him. Why are you being so suspicious of us anyway?" she countered

"I don't know, should I be?" he asked.

"If anything, I should be the one grilling you right now. I still can't believe you even have the guts to come up to me."

"Well, they say I _am_ a confident man, what about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

"What are you hiding?" he leaned closer. Intimidation worked best. That, and their argument was getting really heated. It was so much fun to watch.

She glared at him. "I really don't know what you want," she said, catching her breath at the sudden closeness. "But we already told you everything we know."

He didn't back down though. Her eyes were dead serious and sparks were flying off. If she were challenging him on purpose, he didn't know, but right now, that seemed more like what was happening. She was looking at him like she was daring him to contradict what she'd just said. He leaned in closer, his face on the same level as hers, trying to see how far he could get before she freaked out.

Prue tried to stare him down as best as she could but it didn't seem to work. He wasn't really doing anything… Except maybe pushing the boundaries of social decorum between two strangers. For some reason, she refused to back down. For a moment there she thought she saw something. It was for only a second, and if she had blinked, she probably would've missed it, so she didn't. She didn't catch herself leaning in. She didn't get a whiff of his cologne when the breeze blew either. Nor did she think of any inappropriate thoughts while looking at his face. No. Not at all.

And suddenly, it was gone. He jumped back, like he'd just gotten burnt. He cleared his throat as if trying to clear the awkwardness away. It was hot all of a sudden and Prue looked away… At the ground, the tree, her keys… Anywhere but at him.

"Yeah… Uh," said Cole, breaking the silence. "If anything comes up, just give me a ring."

He took out a card from his suit's pocket and handed it to her.

"I'll… I'll see," she took the card, still not looking at him. Why should she be embarrassed? It wasn't like they made out or anything. At that thought, she mentally kicked herself.

"See you then," he said, motioning to leave.

He started walking out of her car's parking space and was about to make a turn behind her car when he stopped on his tracks. Prue looked up from the card he had handed to her and stared curiously at his back.

He made a full turn and walked decisively to stand in front of her.

_What, is he lost? Does he want an encore?_

"I wasn't trying to take your top off," he said firmly, "I pushed away the guy who did. And then we both turned around at the same time. That's when you bumped into me."

With that, he backed up again and marched out of her sight, disappearing behind her car.

**A/N:** _I don't know if I'm going to write the rest of the episode as part of this, but I'll see. I've kinda skipped some things and major scenes, so if you're kinda lost, you can just tell me... That's what reviews are for anyway... *hint hint*_


	3. So Innocent

**A/N:** _Sowy-ness for the delayed update. New Year's was freakin' hectic. AND, events concerning people have accumulated and exploded unto themselves so I couldn't really write much. I hope you guys still find this amusing though. ^.^ I had so much fun writing their childish selves, although it was a bit hard trying to summarize three episodes in one chapter. This kinda combines the second half of The Honeymoon's Over + Magic Hour + Once Upon a Time. Which also contributed to the lateness. ANYWAYS, it's here so yeah. Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER:** _I wish, but I don't. I even have to acknowledge for the dialogue me's copied directly fwom them. Thank youuu! ^.^ Oooh… And also… The Hokey Pokey song? Not mine either… Poos.. Too much to acknowledge. Grrr… T.T Anything you recognize from media, like even the Teletubbies, still not mine, so shoo! (After that disclaimer, you'll probably be like, wtf is she gonna be writing be writing about?) Oh, and you can figure Simple Plan's not mine either, but it says to say so._

**Chapter 3: So Innocent**

_**I don't want to be told to grow up  
**__**And I don't want to change  
**__**I just want to have fun  
**__**I don't want to be told to grow up  
**__**And I don't want to change  
**__**So you better give up  
**_'_**Cause I'm not going to change  
**__**I don't want to grow up**_

**- Grow Up (Simple Plan)**

Prue lay in her bed thinking.

It had been a couple of weeks since she'd had that conversation with Cole, but it all seemed much longer than that. They had battled an entire court of justice full demons and found their leader slightly incinerated before they had managed to get to him. It was a bit weird how he'd just combusted like that without them even doing anything.

_Maybe…?_

Nah. She dismissed the thought before it even fully formed in her head. She had had her suspicions, but she wasn't a paranoid freak yet. It must've been when they'd managed to defeat all those Guardians and he would've been connected to them somehow?

And then there were those two the other week. Brooke and Christopher. They'd managed to help them find each other after the curse. She had done some of her best 'supportive lying' (as she called it) there. Maybe it wasn't _exactly_ the truth, but it _did _work, right? Besides, Christopher had been an owl. He couldn't possibly tell Brooke himself, and she knew he wanted to. She just… gave them a little push on the way. Prue smiled. Watching the two of them had given her some of the hope she had been trying to make herself believe. She missed Andy and the pain would never really go away. It never did. Not for her mom. Not for Grams. Not for her dad either. But it didn't hurt as much as before. It kind of faded over time. Faded, but never gone.

When she looked at their perseverance though, at how much they had suffered and what they had to endure just to be together… Their hope kind of rubbed off on her. Besides, this was the kind of support Piper needed right now.

After the failed 'Rudovega', Piper had been a complete mess. Most of the time she seemed so out of it. And if she wasn't isolating herself in her room, she was at the club, working and working. It was almost a week since Leo had been forced to orb out and disappeared. No call. No message. No note. And with every passing day, Piper grew more worried and worried. Her and Phoebe were worried as well, but nothing compared to Piper. What if Leo never came back? Worse, what if they had clipped his wings or been obliterated into a million pieces. Prue looked at the clock. Eleven-thirty. At this rate, she wasn't going to get sleep.

Pushing the covers off, she stepped off her bed and found her slippers. She stood up and stretched a bit. She _had _been lying there for a whole hour and a half.

_Yeah. Not sleeping. Not at all._

She went to her dresser and looked at her reflection in the large mirror. He hadn't been trying to take her top off. After he'd walked out on her, she'd just stood there for a couple of minutes, almost not knowing what to feel. She was obviously embarrassed, but was also annoyed. He hadn't even let her say sorry or even try to redeem herself.

_Why does HE get to have the last word?_ she asked herself. She hadn't been able to reflect on the situation yet, given the eventful weeks, but right now, of the many feelings she had felt, the most obvious one she could go for was annoyed.

Getting up, she heard muffled moaning from the hallway. _Piper? Leo? ALREADY?_

Running down the hallway she opened Piper's door and entered the room. The light from the hallway gave enough light for her to see what was happening. Piper was thrashing about in her bed, the covers tangled and her forehead shiny with sweat. She seemed to be having a bad dream.

Sitting beside her, she grabbed her shoulders gently and shook her. "Piper, wake up! Piper…"

Piper opened her eyes, orienting herself. "Leo's not coming back," she said, her expression half to tears.

"Honey, it was just a bad dream," she tried to reassure her.

"No, it wasn't," she said more forcefully. "It _was_ real… I don't understand. Why are they doing this to us? It's like… Destroying lives is how they amuse themselves!"

"Piper, watch what you say," Prue said, looking up.

Although Piper had every right to be furious, she wasn't going to let 'them' have one more reason to hurt her. They could be listening in _any _moment.

"Why? What are they gonna do to me?" she challenged. "They couldn't hurt me more than they already have."

Prue did not know what to say. Piper looked so defeated, it was just not like her. All she could do was hug her sister while she cried.

* * *

Prue put the phone down and headed for the kitchen. Piper was already pouring the water into their cups and dipping the teabags in. The round kitchen clock by the wall read twelve-thirty in the morning and Phoebe wasn't home yet.

_I just hope she didn't scratch the car… _she thought. Phoebe had just abruptly cut off the call. That couldn't be too good.

"I just… It was just too real. That wasn't a dream," Piper said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Piper… I'm sure that was just from the stress. Leo wouldn't let-"

"Yeah, but that's the thing! It's not up to Leo! It's up to _them_ and whatever the hell they want to do with us!" she said, her voice rising. Prue looked taken aback. "Sorry. I'm just…"

"I know," she said in a soothing voice. "But, Leo _will_ come back. He tried to marry you even though he was fully aware of the risks. I'm sure he'll try to see you, no matter what. Besides, he's still our Whitelighter…"

"Unless they clipped his wings. Or reassigned him. Whichever. He's still not with me…" Piper concluded, her face downcast, looking at the tea bag slumped at the bottom of her cup.

Prue watched her take another sip of the tea. She could definitely not tell her about that incident with Cole then. And she couldn't tell Phoebe. She still didn't know exactly why. Well, now, it didn't really matter because he wasn't really a bad guy… Was he? He seemed to alright. Maybe except for the fact that he was an arrogant prat.

_Maybe I COULD tell her. I mean, she's been so depressed… At least she'd have something to laugh at…_

"I was going to tell you something, actually…" she started.

"Huh? About what?" Piper asked, her head snapping up from her cup.

"About Co-"

"We're home!" Phoebe yelled from the door.

_Awesome timing Pheebs. Just… great._

"We?" asked Piper, arching an eyebrow. I shrugged. She didn't mention anything before.

Phoebe entered the kitchen, a girl in tow. "Yes, _we_. This is Kate. Kate, these are my older sisters Prue and Piper."

* * *

The room was dark, the only light coming from the lamp post direct outside the window, setting shadows everywhere. Cole sat on the bed, thinking about what he was going to do next.

_They have a Whitelighter. Of course._

He reminisced the day he'd gone to their house to deliver the wedding books he'd switched. Phoebe had answered, but he never let him in. He was sure they had been hiding something. Probably the preparations for that wedding. It wasn't exactly something he'd planned on doing, but reporting their mischief to the other side might well work for his benefit. He was sure that would've hit the middle sister hard. Anything that hurt them in _any _kind of way was good, so long as they didn't suspect him of anything.

"_You do good work," the hooded man complimented him._

"_To get close to the Halliwell's with no suspicion… Splendi," said another._

"_And we were pleased that you informed us of the witch's nuptials," the third member of the Triad behind him spoke._

_Cole nodded at them. "The pleasure was mine."_

"_And the pleasure was theirs when the information was shared."_

"_You get useful knowledge of the Charmed Ones, now you must gain their trust," the first one said. "Others have failed."_

"_Others weren't me," he replied._

"_So, what is next?" the one on his left asked. They had to be reported of every single detail he gained._

"_The wedding was child's play, a perk if you will. I'm focusing my attentions on Phoebe, she's my way in," he told them. Phoebe was indeed his way in. And he would definitely have to stay away from Prue. "You sent me up to find out how to destroy them, I'd say we're well on our way."_

He had just confirmed to them his plans and definitely pulled Prue out of the equation. She was way too dangerous for him to get close to. For one, her power was an active and a better honed one than the others'. Second, she was too… Prudent for his benefit, ironically. Third… There wasn't a third one. He would rather not acknowledge that one. It was not supposed to exist. Like he said, she was far too dangerous. Ever since that day he had last talked to her properly, before the last trial and before him focusing his attentions on Phoebe, he had been annoyed. Well, yes annoyed, and something else. She was _not_ backing down or saying anything. It irked him that she thought so low of him. It was also his pride talking. He had failed to win the sister he had initially set his intentions onto, even though he'd actually tried to 'save' her.

_What are you talking about? You were trying to get close to her to blast her off into a million bits. Focus Cole, focus._

_Yes obliterate. Not saving. Fire, burning fire. Screaming witch, screaming in pain_. Finally lying on the bed and entering the covers, the demon within him whispered the ill-intentioned thoughts. For some reason though, he did not enjoy it as much as he usually did when imagining the fear on the witch's eyes. He imagined those same blue-grey eyes that had looked at him at the night club that night they'd first made contact. Somehow, pain and fear did not suit them. Instead, he saw passion and fearlessness. Like the way she had been looking at him on the parking lot. He'd been drawn to them, like an invisible rope pulling him closer and he did not even notice it until he'd seen those lips and sobered up.

_Not good, not good. Don't think about that!_

Tomorrow night he was going to make his move. Yes, that was a safe topic. He'd just done a little bit of research earlier and watched _Kill it Before it Dies_, a movie Phoebe seemed to love. It was one of those B-rated slasher films from the sixties. It was a bit cheesy, but he could tell why she seemed to love it so much. If Billy Appleby was the guy of her dreams and her knight in shining armor, then he'd be that guy, or at least pretend to be, not that being chivalrous was hard. He would just try not to deliver too many cheesy lines, although he couldn't seem to help it when he was around her. A whole century had made him a master of flirting, but sometimes, he just forgot which decade he lived in. If everything went according to plan, then tomorrow would be a good day.

* * *

Prue and Phoebe giggled their way out of the house. Skipping down the stairs was so much fun! Kate had sprinkled them with fairy dust which had made them innocent again. Also, with the brain capacity of five-year-olds, but innocent nonetheless. Now that they had the key to Thistle's box, they only needed Piper so she could freeze the trolls when midnight struck to protect Kate when she was attacked again. First, they needed to get to Piper though.

"Prueeee… Do you r'member how to dwive?" Phoebe asked, twirling the key that was on her neck. "Oooh! And that fewy was sooo pweety! Do you think we can get one?"

"Ummmm. I don't knoow! Maybe Thistle has heaps and heaps and heaps of fwends and we can b'rrow 'em!" she giggled while trying to fit the key into the door of the car. "This thing woooon't opeeen!" she stomped.

"Let _me_ twy!" Phoebe took the key and jammed it into the key whole. "Woopsies. I think I bwoke it."

"Phoebeeeee!" whined Prue. The key was stuck.

"Soowy!" Phoebe replied, looking at the ground her hands still playing with the key around her neck.

"Okie… Uhhhhh… Oh! I know! If I tuuurn it…" Prue said while turning the key. "Yay! I diid it! I diid it!" she said dancing around.

After a couple more moments of twirling, they got into the car and started the engine.

"Urrrmmmm… What does 'D' meaaan?" asked Phoebe.

"Maybe… Maybe it means 'dirtyyy'…" Prue giggled.

"Nooo… I don't think so! " Phoebe looked at the stick. Moving it, she put it in reverse. "Wokie! Twy now! Twy now!"

Prue revved the engine and pushed the brakes. It did not move.

"What's wrooong? We diid it before!" Phoebe whined again. "We're n'ver gonna get to Piper now!"

"Urm…" her sister replied, fiddling with the buttons of the car. "Let's try this wun!" The air condition started blowing. "Maybe this wun?" and the stereo played on full blast.

"Stop it stop it stop it!" Phoebe yelled, covering her ears at the deafening music.

Prue, panicking, pressed everything, setting the screen wipers on. Finally, she found the off button and the music stopped. Trying to think amidst the five-year-old blur, she remembered the hand brake. Pulling it out, the car started moving downhill. This was San Francisco after all.

"We're moving we're moving!" Phoebe said in a sing-songy voice.

"But we're moving baack! We're supposed to move forward! R'membeeer?" Prue said looking back. "Ermmmm…"

Her body, which subconsciously remembered being an adult, moved automatically as if it were something completely normal and she changed the gears to drive. Pushing the pedal again, they managed to move forward.

"Oh oh! Watch out!" Phoebe said, pointing at the car in front of them.

Prue pushed at the brakes as hard as she could and they stopped abruptly, their heads almost hitting the dashboard and the steering wheel. Fortunately, they did not hit the car.

"I think we should put our seatbelts ooon." Phoebe said.

* * *

Cole looked around at the club. Phoebe had said they'd just meet there instead of their house. Something was definitely up. One second they'd been flirting, the next she was hanging up the phone. People were already piling in and had started dancing. Moving back to the couches where he'd first seen Prue, he sat down and waited. It was the most secluded and private area of the club anyway, so he could observe perfectly well.

Then there they were. By the stage trying to set up the mic. They started dancing along with the people, slightly elevated from the dance floor.

_Is that even… dancing?_ he thought, arching an eyebrow. Their arms were all flailing about, hips everywhere, legs not knowing where to actually stand. It reminded him of a disoriented two-year-old. He hoped Phoebe did not really dance like that. He'd never be able to take her on a date and live down the shame. Judging by how they were acting, something was a little off.

"Okie people!" Prue blared into the mic. "We don't like thee music, sooo… We're gonna do something fun!"

"Yeah, yeah! Fun!" Phoebe yelled beside her.

_Okaay… Something is DEFINITELY up._

The crowd stood watching them, as the music stopped. Some of them were weirded out and were quietly making comments amongst themselves, the others were half-expecting a nice surprise, like drinking game or something, thinking it was all part of the program for the night.

"We're gonna be dooiiiing… the HOKEY POKEY!" Prue announced into the microphone.

Cole had to almost cover his ears at her voice. She might not have even needed the microphone to let the whole club know… Wait. Hokey Pokey? Wasn't that for… Pre-school children?

"You put your right foot iin…" Prue started singing. "You put your right foot out…"

People looked at them with their best "What the fuck?" faces as they watched the two women dance around like demented hyper sugar-high children. It was like watching the Teletubbies, but with prettier and sexier women.

"You do the hokey pokey and you turn it all around!" the two of them sang as if they lived in their own world, not caring whether any of them would be able to show their faces in public ever again. Exactly like five-year-olds. Cole gaped at them , his jaw dropping and not closing like he'd swallowed a crowbar and it was stuck in his mouth. It was just… Incredible.

"… aaaand that's whaaat it's ALL A-BOUT!" they both sang for their grand finale. "Whoah!" Making a really fast turn, Prue went off balance and tumbled, falling sideways and bringing Phoebe down with her.

Getting over some of the shock, he moved around the crowd watching the two of them making a fool of themselves. He tried to stifle some of the laughter he couldn't seem to control. They were just… _cute._ Hilariously _cute._ He smiled, watching the stage laughing along with some of the people watching. Either they were drunk or high, he didn't really know which, but they were just so funny! And this was just perfect. Prue and Phoebe tried to get up but kept falling down half-way through, so they finally took their shoes off.

_Barefoot it is then… _

Having managed to get up, people started getting back to their own conversations, thinking the show was finished. Some of the other people just didn't like it and had started leaving. The others… Well the others were just standing there watching them with incredulous faces or laughing at them. One of the bartenders tried to get them off the stage but failed.

"Noo! We waiting for Pipeeerrr…" Phoebe said in what he could only think of was her… kid-voice.

"Aaand! We're daaancing! Wanna dance! You should dance wif uss it's weally weally weaaally fuuun!" Prue added, still holding onto the mic.

Cole smiled from a distance. He might have to get them drunk one of these days, then. If he'd known it was going to be this fun. It wasn't a bad idea either. If they were drunk… Their state of minds as he watched them now weren't exactly in the best conditions to vanquish anything, much less him. Yes. Tonight he was going to make progress. He might not have managed to have an actual date with Phoebe, but that would be fine. He would be able to get into the house without them noticing. Although… It wouldn't harm him to watch them a little longer. They seemed to be having a lot of fun. He smiled even more when Prue started singing Frere Jacques. Their faces were so innocent and carefree, he almost wished he wasn't supposed to kill them. Oh, but then he'd lose the glory and that would not exactly be pretty to watch.

Suddenly, the middle sister, Piper, came in and darted through the whole scene and onto the stage.

_Okay, so she's the sober one today._

Watching the two get scolded like naughty children, he followed them out. It looked like they were going home. Good.

* * *

The ride home on the cab was more relaxing than their drive to P3. At least, there was a _proper_ adult behind the wheel this time. It did not make it less childish though. They played and bounced on the seats all the way home, much to the cab driver's chagrin. After they paid for the cab, they ran into the house, trying to dodge every 'tween place they saw, but there were just too many.

"Geez, Louise… There are too many doorways in this house!" commented Phoebe as they rushed to through the rooms.

The manor already had three doorways in just one hallway right on the atrium. Then there were all those windows in the sun room, the living room, and not to mention the kitchen. Everything was almost like a huge in-between. Might as well have been midnight.

"Okay, we have to call Kate on the walkie-talkies, okaay?" Prue said, both of them still holding hands and staying as together as possible. Then the doorbell rang. "Oh, do you think the twolls know about doorbells?"

_That would be really really really polite of them! But I know they're not nice. They're verrry mean!_

"I don't know…" said Phoebe, walking cautiously with her to the door. Slowly, as if they were in a Mission Impossible movie, they held the handle of the door and turned it. Opening the door really fast, they didn't see anything. Not on their direct line of vision anyway. Cole was bended, looking like he'd been trying to peep through the key hole. Weird.

"Coooole!" Phoebe greeted him. Turns out her five-year-old self still had the same feelings for the guy. Prue looked at him surprised. He wasn't supposed to be here!

"Hey, you're home." Cole said nonchalantly while straightening up. _They shouldn't suspect anything in their state…_

"Yess." Phoebe replied, leaning towards him.

Prue sees her and grabs her back. "Ooh! Ooh! 'Tween!" They still had to be careful.

_Especially with the bonus troll around, _Prue added in her mind.

"Um… 'Scooze me but you were not suppooosed to meet me here… You were s'pposed to meet me at the club, 'member?"

"Was that the plan?" Cole asked putting his most confused face.

Phoebe looked at him with her childish face, "Yess that was the plaaaan…"

"Sorry, long day," he said in an apologetic grin.

_Huh, cute. _Prue thinks, _Noooo… not nooow…_

"Kay, byee! Close the door behind you!" she said trying to clear her head and stay focused while grabbing Phoebe to come with her to the attic.

"Byyee!" Phoebe waves at him trying to catch a last glimpse of him.

_Think Cole, you can't let this opportunity go. _"Um…" he said, making the sisters stop on their tracks, leaning on each other's backs. "It's a long drive home. Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Numba one or numba twooo?" Phoebe asks.

Prue laughed. "He has to go _dooodiiee_…"

He almost didn't catch what they'd said from the doorway, "Excuse me?"

"Okay… But whatever you do, you have to do it vewy fast whatever it is!" Phoebe said, pointing at the bathroom upstairs.

Cole came in and walked past them a bit urgently while they both followed still holding hands. Prue held the walkie-talkie on her other hand, just in case Kate came over on the other line. Finding the bathroom door, they let Cole in and he closed the door, locking it inside. Looking around for a couple of seconds, he shimmered out of the bathroom and into the attic.

_There it is. The Book of Shadows…_

The covers looked worn, dusted and yellowing from the centuries. The book, he figured, would actually be older than him, having been handed down from generations and generations of powerful witches. Reacting on instinct, he reached for the book on the stand. It glowed, and next thing he knew it flew away from him and onto the floor.

_It can move? Dammit… I guess it MUST have some sort of 'protection' to have survived this long._

He was probably not the only warlock or demon or entity that would have attempted to take the book. It _did_ contain most of the witches' powers. He tried harder, this time unbounded himself by transforming into a demon. His whole body contorted, growing bigger, his skin changing into red with black stripes across his face. Reaching for it again, he tried with all his will-power to get through whatever enchantment it was surrounding the book. The Book of Shadows just moved away from him again, further back. He let out a loud growl. This was getting frustrating.

Downstairs on the second floor, Prue and Phoebe were still holding hands while talking to Kate in the walkie-talkies.

"… So, just staay there a-an-and turn on all the lights… it'll disappear in the shadows," Prue whispered.

Phoebe looked around, still clutching the key. "Yeah, yeah…"

Suddenly, they hear the growl coming from the attic. They both stop in their tracks, startled.

"Twolls," Phoebe whispered, wide-eyed.

Prue looked at her. "Let's go get 'em!"

Tiptoeing as fast as they could up the stairs in their child-like and exaggerated manner, they reached the closed door to the attic. Prue took her shoes off and put them on her hands like safe pads, ready to bash anything that came close to them. Looking at each other, they whispered up to three, before entering.

"HIYAAAAA!" they both screamed in high-pitched voices and posed as if they'd come out of a kung fu movie.

Phoebe turned on the light. They did not exactly find what they were expecting, and Cole just turned around to look at them in his demon form, surprised. For a moment, both parties just stared at each other: Prue and Phoebe not knowing exactly what to do with the kids in them taking over, while Cole couldn't exactly face them both right now without getting killed. Trusting his first instinct, he fled, shimmering back into the bathroom.

"Pwue… That was a vewy, vewy big twoll!" Phoebe whispered.

"That wasn't a twoll! That was a demon!" exclaimed Prue between breaths. _This is weally weally baad…_

They were kids right now. Well, grown-ups but with the minds of a kid. And with a demon who had managed to get _inside_ the Attic _without _any complications whatsoever. He had also managed to escape unscathed.

"Okaaay… Well how does that fit into this stowy?" Phoebe asked.

The first thing that she checked wasn't there. It was on the floor, with the bookstand knocked over. "He was afta the Book of Shadows!"

"Alright…" her sister replied, "Well, you know we really can't wurry 'bout him now 'cause we havta get to Kate."

With that, Phoebe went to the doorway ready to go downstairs. Suddenly, a troll appeared, attached at the top of the doorframe. It laughed mischievously before diving into Phoebe's shirt and ran around inside it looking for the key.

"Oh! Phoebe!" yelled Prue, reaching for her. "Phoebe! Look ooout!". She'd forgotten and lingered in an in-between.

The little jerk was speeding away, while Phoebe tried to catch it. Prue did what first came into her mind and ran towards her, except she tripped on the carpet on the process, thanks to the trolls. Tackling Phoebe down, they added to Prue's impetus and got them rolling down the stairs. Their bodies hit the steps and corners in every possible angle of the their bodies, Phoebe first with Prue following along closely, but not hard enough to render them unconscious. They landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of the staircase.

Phoebe checked her neck. It wasn't there. "Prue, they got the key…"

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from the corner and Cole appeared. _Oh crap… He was here all the time!_ Prue thought.

Cole looked at them with a worried expression. "Phoebe… Are you two okay?"

They both looked at each other. _As if trolls and demons weren't enough for one night!_ Prue groaned, trying to find her functional limbs.

"Y-yeah, we're fine…" Phoebe answered while Cole helped her up.

_Thanks for the help! _thought Prue, standing up by herself.

He had to help Phoebe first, figured Cole. I mean, it _was _her he was gonna go for, right? He couldn't help gesturing to reach Prue though after he was sure Phoebe was fine, but as he saw, she didn't need help anymore. She was already dusting herself off.

Remembering the time, Prue got her senses in order fast and directly into worry, which got the adrenaline pumping again. She could now think clearly, without anything too fuzzy. There was no urge to giggle every now and then either, nor there was the lisp that they used to have when they were kids.

"You know what? Can you just go?" she started slightly directing him towards the stairs, a bit annoyed. "I'm really sorry to be rushing you out, but we have something really important to be taking care of."

They weren't really _kicking him out_. It was more like, gentle pushing.

Cole tried turning around. "But, you sure you're okay?" he sounded genuinely concerned. "I mean, that sounded like a pretty nasty fall."

"Yeah, Cole. We're fine, really." Phoebe answered, hoping to have convinced him.

He looked at them intently. "You two… seem different."

"Different?" repeated Phoebe. _Oh crap… how are we gonna explain this one?_

"I mean… I thought maybe you were… I dunno, drunk or something before…" he said. It was always good to seem worried. Added to the whole 'I'm the good guy' kind of thing. "But now you seem…"

"Sober." answered Prue. _Yes, that could work. Drunk. Not fairy dust._ "Stairs can be… sobering."

_Oh god, that was lame. _Phoebe looked at her, clearly conveying the same thoughts.

Trying to clear the awkward situation, Phoebe spoke up. "Riiight… Okay. Um, I'm really sorry about our plans Cole, I really am," she said while walking him to the door and opening it for him.

Right before he left, Cole looked at Prue, and she at him. Their faces conveyed the same expression of suspicion, but none wanted to linger long enough to reveal anything of any sort. And Phoebe was there. The night was complicated enough as it was.

"No worries," he smiled faintly at Phoebe. "I'll keep trying."

And with that, he let them close the door behind him. He'd definitely keep trying. Trying to kill them and take their powers of course. Why else?

**A/N: **_There's a pweeeaty li'l button right beneath this one. You know you want to click it… ^.^_


	4. A Touch of Destiny

**A/N:**_ Yuss, and here goes another chapter. I watched 'All Halliwells Eve' too many times, so I think I might've overdone it a bit. Oh well! lol, I did a bit of research on Tarot cards and all that, so it kinda took me a while to post this. XD Also, I passed my Learner's Test for driving, so I've been a bit busy. Doesn't matter much now though, because Chapter 4 is now here! ^.^ Oh, and be sure to read the Author's Note at the end of this. University's gonna come in soon, and life will be busier than ever so I might not have enough time to write. Hence, the A/N at the end of this story... ^.^ You'll see..._

**DISCLAIMER: **_Here we go again. Don't own them, and I don't own the song either. Although, I might be the owner of a Tarot Manga set soon. Hopefully anyway... XD_

**Chapter Four: A Touch of Destiny**

'_**Cause you give me something  
**__**That makes me scared alright  
**__**This could be nothing  
**__**But I'm willing to give it a try  
**__**Please give me something  
**_'_**Cause someday I might know my heart**_

**- You Give Me Something (James Morrison)**

The Triad stood on their respective convening positions around Cole. They had summoned him for a new plan, a definitive blow as they called it.

"We concur that it is time to make a move against the witches…" started one of the hooded beings.

"You have managed to get closer to them, and it is safe to say that you will not be suspected of anything with this plan…" said the other one behind him.

"Are you sure?" Cole asked. His cover was very important, especially if the plan failed.

"What do you know about the Warren line?" the third one asked.

"That it has always been one of the most powerful good forces over the centuries," he answered. "It is also the genealogical line from which the Charmed Ones come from."

"Indeed," they said. "And what is so special about tomorrow night?"

"All Hallow's Eve," he answered. This was sounding more and more like a school quiz rather than anything else. Although he had an inkling as to where they were going with this, it still seemed too rough on the details. "Your plan?"

"A portal. Back in time," one of them answered. "To finish the Warren line before it even starts."

He looked at them, a bit incredulously. It was a bit farfetched, but it _was_ logical. Nipping the tree by the bud.

The hooded figure continued. "The matriarch of the Charmed Ones was born on that night under a circle of protection. You must prevent the child from being born good and their line will change, tipping the scales in favor of evil. It will not be necessary to kill the child."

_Oh, so no killing this time? How… surprising,_ Cole mused.

"There is a woman, Ruth." they continued explaining. "Give the child to her and she will raise it to become evil…"

"…to gain an ally instead of an enemy." he concluded.

"Yes. If you succeed, the Charmed Ones will become evil. No need to waste powerful magic," the one behind him stated.

"We want you to pave the way for the upcoming eve of the child's birth. The portal is ready. You will commence in a few hours. You will capture the mother and retain her until the child is born." another one instructed.

Cole nodded. The three hooded figures gestured and started chanting.

_Nos advocamus maleficus virtus  
__Muto tempus, aperto tempus  
__Aperto porta, abeo preteritus_

The portal opened. "Capture the baby," they commanded him. "Do _not_ fail."

* * *

"Didn't we vanquish them already?" Phoebe asked as she ran to Leo and her sisters.

Prue waved her hand and the Grimlocks flew onto the living room through the threshold. "I dunno! But that's not what I came to warn you about!" Leo said. Turning around, they saw a whirling pool in the air, distorting the see-through image it had of the other side of the room. "_That's_ what I wanted to warn you about!"

"Look out!" Phoebe screamed. The Grimlocks had come recovered from their knock down. Piper moved fast and froze them.

"Leo, what the hell is-?"

Piper never managed to finish her sentence. The Grimlocks that were frozen in their foyer looked harmless compared to the vortex behind them. Leo never managed to explain either, because the next thing they knew, the vortex had suddenly sucked them into itself. All they saw was the blur of a tunnel, their head spinning and bodies spiraling out of control until they got spewed out onto a grassy field. Scrambling to get up with their Halloween costumes still on, they tried to make sense of what had just happened.

"Is everybody okay?" Prue asked, the first one to get up.

Phobe looked at their surroundings. "Too soon to tell…" she answered her.

"Did the Grimlocks do this?" asked Piper.

They all tried looking for anything that could be out of place or different. "Uh… Unless we're dead and this is the hereafter, I don't think so." Prue concluded.

"Eternally Elvira? Yeechh…" Phoebe gestured, looking at her black and revealing outfit.

Walking a few paces from where they landed, they found a pile of stones set up on top of each other with fruits and flowers set on top.

"Alright," Prue said while she checked out the pile. "Uh, so this looks like witch's altar."

Piper looked at her. "A witch's altar? What's going on?"

Voices of men coming from afar interrupted their discussion. They seemed to be on a hunt, men on horses, with torches and pitchforks in broad daylight.

"There they are!" one of them yelled. "Kill the witches!"

"Oh, you had to ask!" Phoebe protested as they all started to panic.

"Not good, not good, not good!" Piper said, heading for the bushes. "Flee! We're not in Kansas anymore!"

The mob galloped in closer, as Prue, Piper and Phoebe tried to run for cover. How did they know they were witches anyway? They hadn't even done anything yet.

"Don't tell me we've time traveled again!" whispered Piper. "I hate time traveling!"

Phoebe whispered back at her, "_You _do? I was burnt at the stake last time, remember?"

"Alright, let's make sure that doesn't happen again." Prue said. Eyeing the mob in more detail, she tried applying what she'd learnt at university. "From what they're wearing, it looks to be… what, sixteen, seventeen hundreds?"

"Where the life expectancy of the average witch is, what, fifteen minutes?" snapped Phoebe.

The rustling in the bushes behind them made them stop the conversation. A man came out of the bushes, startling them and made them gasp in surprise. They'd been caught.

"Find anything, Micah?" one of the hunters called out. Prue locked eyes with the man as he stared back at her. She stopped Piper with an arm when she was about to freeze him. "No, nothing here! Ride on!" he answered back at his companions.

"Shhh…" he told them, a finger on his lips, before ran off to join the others.

Phoebe and Piper looked at Prue, who was still looking at the guy's back, in a daze. "Why wouldn't you let me freeze him?"

"I dunno," she answered her, mesmerized. "There was just… something."

* * *

"Don't touch me," the woman snapped at him, trying to put on as much anger on the line as she could while in pain.

Cole took his hand back along with the wet cloth. "There's no need for you to be anymore uncomfortable than you have to be," he told her. It was something to take the child away from the mother, it was another to keep the woman in more pain than necessary. In normal circumstances, he would really care, but it didn't really matter if he was considerate right now or anything. She'd end up being dead after all of this anyway.

"Really?" she defied. "Then let me go. I beg you…"

"Even if I could, it wouldn't help." he said, sincerely. "Another one would be sent to take you right back."

Ruth, who was on the table, gasped at the cards she'd just drawn out of her reading. "What? What do you see?" Cole asked her.

"A force of great good, from your time. Here, for the baby as well." she told him.

Cole came closer to look at the cards laid out on the table. He saw three female cards, Queens, specifically. "Three of them. I'm not surprised my traveling here undoubtedly alerted the other side," he mused. If he was about to change history, the Elders would have probably sensed it beforehand.

"But this new force…" Ruth said, worried.

"If it's who I think it is… I can handle them." he answered. "You just make sure she stays here through midnight."

With that, he turned away and left the room. He needed some time to think before he went through with any of this. A couple of days ago, he had been so willing to go through with the mission when the Triad had called him, but right now… _Where's all this doubt coming from Belthazor?_ he asked himself. He did not understand why he couldn't enjoy pain as much as he did before. He was about to eliminate the most powerful source of good magic from its very inception, and somehow he felt… sorry about it. This would obviously mean the demise of Prue and Phoebe Halliwell, but he'd rather not go there yet.

* * *

Prue looked around from behind her mask. Piper and Phoebe were walking right beside her as they roamed around the festivities. There was music, pipe flutes playing at the background, jugglers walking while maneuvering apples in the air, dancing, drinking, laughter and masks. It was like one big seventeenth century party. They had to be more careful now. Their previous attempt had failed miserably and had gotten Eve injured. It wasn't such a good thing to find out you had no powers in the middle of a battle, but they hoped that now they were better equipped, the power of All Hallows Eve would be enough to rescue Charlotte.

_Along with a few apples, a doll and a broom,_ she mused.

"Care to know your future m'lady?" a voice asked Prue. Looking around expecting to find Piper and Phoebe, she instead saw an old man, graying beard and balding. He had kind eyes, and looked harmless, almost the grandfather type.

"No, thank you…" she answered him kindly, "I'm pretty familiar with it already..."

The old man insisted. "Are you certain?" he asked. "There is no harm in knowing who your love might be… I can reveal many things…" he said showing her a deck of cards.

_Tarot, huh?_

"I'm sorry, I just don't believe in those kind of things," she said, ready to keep on walking. One thing was being a witch and fighting demons, another was believing in stupid cards to tell you what your life would turn out to be.

And then the voice of another man called out to her. "Interesting…" he said. "A lady who does not take interest in love."

Prue turned around to face the voice that had recently joined a conversation she thought was already over. It came from a tall man behind her, wearing his black mask. He had long and flowing dark hair, going down to his shoulders, a face that would probably be handsome without the mask and piercing eyes that were all too familiar. She tried looking at him closely, seeing if she recognized Micah. Somehow, she didn't get the same vibe. He was different.

Cole looked at the woman in front of him, the back of her seeming familiar. When she turned around to face him, he saw her eyes, reminding him of another pair that were of the same shade. His slight curiosity over a woman not interested in knowing her future turned into wonder as he looked at her.

"And, why would it be so interesting, pray tell…?" she asked him.

"Wouldn't a beautiful lady such as yourself be interested in knowing who will hold her heart?" he countered.

She looked at him, and then at the old man who was still watching expectantly. They were both being rather persuasive, and they were only staring her down. _Seriously Prue, I can't believe you're even considering this. _She sighed. _I guess a little card game wouldn't hurt. _

"Fine," she nodded, following the tarot reader to his desk.

Shuffling the cards swiftly, he divided them into three piles. Making her choose one, he set aside the deck and reshuffled the rest, and dividing the reshuffled part, he made her choose between two piles, and placed the one she didn't choose on top of it. Then, he combined all the cards by putting the set-aside pile at the bottom of all of it. With his left hand, he picked out the card on top and laid it out in the open. She remembered a course she took in college on Art History. Tarot art and the symbolism included in it. The beautiful lining and the colors all represented something. It was the picture of a queen, serious and dignified, looking ahead with her head held high and holding a sword forward.

"Ahhh… You are strong. And proud. You rule your life with precaution and with your head. You are intelligent and wise, you do not let your heart take over what must be done," he said. She was liking the description more and more. "Oh, but you have also suffered and lost. You know what pain is like, and are careful not to suffer again. You are alone."

"Andy…" she whispered, the first name she thought of when the reader mentioned loss. _Hey! Okay, yes maybe I am alone right now. But it doesn't mean I'm going to end up like a batty old lady with a million cats!_ she argued in her head.

"Hmm?" the reader and Cole both looked at her. "You said something?" the reader asked.

"Ah, nothing. Continue," she answered. He took out another card and laid it down beneath hers. It had the picture of a dark creature with horns. Everything had a black background and fire surrounding it. The old man looked at it quizzically, with his brow furrowed. The card grabbed Cole's attention and definitely captured it. This was definitely _very _interesting.

"That is… odd," he said.

It didn't look good from her perspective either, given that the card was upside down. "Why?"

"It is reversed. The man… The man you are destined with. He is… the devil," he answered her, barely with a whisper. "Upright, this card is the symbol of desire… But with too much, desire then becomes evil. And, when it is reversed, it is the worst of all desires. He _is _the devil himself."

_What, am I going to fall in love with a demon?_ she thought sarcastically. "Maybe when the horns and the goat legs disappear…" she joked.

The reader just looked at her, still worried. Drawing out another card, he placed it at the bottom center of the table, right in front of her. The fourth card had the drawings of five sticks, with five people holding each. They looked like they were fighting.

"The Five of Wands." the reader said. "You have already started with a fight… or at least what seemed like a fight."

"_Seemed_?" Prue asked incredulous. "I probably kicked his ass! He's a demon. That's hardly surprising," she said.

"A… demon?" Cole asked her.

_Oh crap!_ "I mean, you know… the devil? So, evil demon… Kind of the same, right?" she said, trying to make up for the slip. Prue looked curiously at him. His voice reminded her of someone, which irritated her a bit. The man looked as intently back at her as she did to him.

"None too accurate I'm afraid," he answered. "There is a fine line between a demon and evil." Prue looked at the masked man suspiciously. He seemed to know more about demons than he was supposed to.

"And how would a kind sire such as you know so much about evil?" she asked him.

He gave her a look. "Experience m'lady. Such a pretty face as yourself should know that _evil…_" he paused as if to make a point. "…can come in many guises."

Prue kept looking at him, trying to push through what was behind the mask. Her instincts told her to be wary and careful, but not for the reasons her head seemed to be telling her. She would definitely have to look out for him.

"Yes… sure," the tarot reader said smiling inwardly as he interrupted their staring contest. "Well you seem to be playing," Prue and Cole jumped a little, hearing the old man's voice. "Us?" they asked at the same time.

The tarot reader let his smile come out. "By 'you' I mean, you and the man in the cards of your life of course," he clarified. "He might not be so far away as one would think…"

"Really now?" Cole commented. "I wonder who the lady might be referring to… I would feel pity for the man who ends up with such a violent wife…" he grinned under the black mask.

Prue glared at him. Who was this guy anyway? "If he were to cry foul every time we had a little fun, maybe you _should_ feel sorry for him."

The tarot reader looked at them. It was as if the cards were playing themselves out right before his eyes. With that, the reader drew another card. The next one showed three swords stabbing a bleeding heart. Prue looked at the design and drew her hand to her chest, looking worried. The card just oozed pain all over the place.

"Necessary cutting. In the present, or the near present. Somehow, somebody or something will be left out," the reader explained.

"What do you mean… _left out_?" Prue asked.

He looked at the card. "Well, at this moment, it could be anything or anyone. Shall we shed some more light?" he asked, taking another card from the pile and placing it on top of the Three of Swords stabbing the heart. The reader's hand turned the card to face up, revealing the image of a queen, beautifully and delicately seated on her thrown, looking at the golden cup on her hands.

Prue and the man beside her looked curiously at the card. If Prue remembered the details of her course clearly, this was supposed to be a very intuitive woman, who was usually led by emotions rather than anything else. "The Queen of Cups?" she asked.

"Yes. A very sensitive and emotional lady. Someone, who although lacking in common sense, has very accurate instincts… Almost as if she could sense the future. And it seems it might be someone rather close to you. A sister, perhaps?" the reader asked.

At the mention of the word sister, Phoebe's name flashed in her head. It all seemed to fit. She could not count how many times she'd accused Phoebe of being reckless and often a dreamer who had 'no vision'. _But then, if Phoebe's the one getting cut off… The guy must be… _

"No… No, it couldn't be." she mused to herself. Cole was the only person she could think of at the moment. "Cole.. and Phoebe?" she whispered.

Cole strained to hear the whisper, which sounded very much like his name. "It seems to me as if you will have a very complicated deal in your hands soon, my lady," the man beside her said.

The reader chuckled. "Indeed. Getting involved with an evil man who will cut one's sister off… It all makes for a very turbulent future."

The old man continued, dealing two cards at the same time and placing them next to each other. One of them showed a boy or a young man looking up to the sky happily, the sun on his back and his dog beside him.

"How appropriate. The Fool." the reader stated signaling at the first card, while Cole chuckled. "You are attracted to him because of foolishness and naiveté."

Prue smiled. "Well, that should explain it…" She wasn't in the right state of mind.

"Yes, or it could apply to the man as well. He must've been all too dim-witted to have fallen for such a woman as her," Cole grinned behind his mask.

Prue looked at him, eyes spitting fire behind the mask of green leaves. "Speaking from first-hand experience now, are we sir?" she threw back at him.

"Ah, well you see, the man was blinded by beauty. It was foolishness indeed," he replied at her calmly.

Prue was taken aback by the implied compliment. For some reason, the way he looked at her made her think he wasn't talking about knights and queens in cards anymore.

The tarot reader observed the verbal battle ensuing. If it did not seem all too coincidental, he might have thought the lady and sire that were in front of him had met before. The second card showed them an upside down moon: One half showing it's face sideways, while the rest hidden in darkness. At the top, it showed what looked like a dog and a wolf howling at it upside down.

"Unfortunately… Secrets plague the next card," he said, pointing at the moon card. "The upright moon shows mystery, what is hidden and what is not seen. But reversed, it involves trickery and deception. Both of you may have many secrets that are to be kept hidden."

Prue felt even more uneasy. Everything kept hitting her like small epiphanies, and each card seemed to just fit in place like an unknown puzzle. The reading was just too accurate for her liking. She hoped the cards didn't reveal anything about her being a witch. Even though this was only a card game, she couldn't take any chances when so many people were looking.

Cole looked at the layout of the cards so far and he sensed Prue's uneasiness. The devil card was screaming at him like nothing else in the table. It just confirmed his plans even more, but with the wrong sister. This was some other lady's fortune reading, not his nor any of the witches he'd come to erase from history, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling inside. The cards' meanings kept hitting home, and The Fool was very appropriate indeed. He felt the twang of irony. If only the old man knew how well he had nailed everything… With every dealing of the card, the situation seemed to be more dangerous, but they both couldn't help but listen till the end. The old tarot reader drew the last card, and suddenly, everything happened very fast.

"Witches!" a woman cried out.

_That's impossible! We couldn't have been caught yet! _Prue thought, completely forgetting everything else. She turned around from the table alarmed at the cry. She needed to find Piper and Phoebe immediately and took off her mask to see better. Cole watched the woman in front of him panic. As she turned to face him again as she searched for someone, he saw her face. It was Prue. The revelation hit him like a bucket of cold water.

"Piper?" she called out amidst the crowd.

Piper came out from her right side. "I'm here! Where's Phoebe?" she asked.

"Oh no…" Prue pointed ahead. "Phoebe!"

One of the masked men was searching her. If they found her out, they'd be screwed. Prue and Piper ran to her. Cole watched incredulously at the scene playing out. One minute, he was finding out about the future and staring at the beautiful lady, the next, he was on his mission again. He looked at Ruth.

"Those two as well!" Ruth ordered the guards as she saw Prue and Piper. "There's your three!" she said to him.

"Hey!" Prue protested. _They don't need to be so rough!_ At the thought, one of the masked men discovered the little pumpkin with engravings inside Phoebe's cloak. They had found proof.

"Hang them! Hang them!" the crowd cheered. "Hang them all!"

Prue struggled with the guard that was holding her, even though she knew it was of no use. It was like the Salem Witch Trials all over again. Still struggling, a pair of familiar eyes met hers. It was the man who had been talking to her by the tarot reader. He seemed shocked. _Well, it's not everyday you find out you were flirting with a witch… _He gaped at her until she was dragged away.

The tarot reader looked at the last card he had drawn out before all the chaos and confusion. It was the card of Death.

* * *

Cole stared at the cup in his hands. He was back in Ruth's house, reflecting on the events that had happened earlier. They'd been hanged… And the feeling that he did not feel as good as he thought it would have scared him. Moreover, it had actually been painful. What was worse was that while he watched, he had _wanted_ to go save them. Except somebody else already got ahead of him and when the man freed them, he felt relief. He threw the cup against the wall and it smashed into a thousand little pieces. He wasn't _supposed_ to feel _relief._ He was _supposed_ to succeed_. _

_Calm down. You know what they're going to do next._

The witches had already gotten a hold of Charlotte. They would be going to the hideout, by the witch altar.

"Is it time?" Ruth asked.

Cole looked at the clock. "Ready the men. We are going."

Moments later, Cole mounted a horse and led the men into the night through the wilderness. Their torches provided enough light to know which way they were going. He'd already given them enough time to move on, but thinking of the pregnant woman, they would never get too far. Unfortunately, he was right. Looking ahead, he saw Prue and Phoebe running around the altar.

"What are you doing?" Ruth asked him, while he pulled the reins of his horse to slowly pace and finally stop.

"Seeing what they've learnt," he said, his eyes never leaving the four women.

He recognized Prue's silhouette in the moonlight who was standing by the altar, apparently chopping. Piper was taking care of Charlotte, while Phoebe ran in a circle around all of them. Taking whatever it was that they were holding and placing it around them, the men in their horses collided with an invisible wall.

_A circle of protection,_ he mused._ Well done… Once again, you've showed us why you are the most powerful witches of all time. _"They've connected. It's over-"

"Not yet!" Ruth countered. And she was right - one of the men took his gun and shot at the altar. The three of them learnt the hard way that the circle of protection did not stop bullets.

Watching intently, trying to see what they were doing amidst the men trying to get into the force field, he suddenly saw something float. A woman - or a witch actually. With a hat. On a broomstick. It was Phoebe.

He watched her float away in the broomstick over the men who cowered at the sight of her. He chuckled. _Huh… How creative of them…_ He watched her cackle into the moonlight. Clearly, she was enjoying this too much, but unfortunately for him, he had failed. The child had been born into goodness and the Warren line had continued. And yet for some reason, it did not really all seem so bad. He'd have to report to the Triad later of course, but that would be later.

"You've gotta give them credit. They're awfully good," he said, dismounting his horse. "It's alright. Time's on my side," he mused, more to his benefit than anyone else's. He sprinkled the enchanted powder on the floor and opened the portal to return him to the present, while Ruth watched on, horrified. Time was on his side indeed.

**A/N:**_ So here is where you guys come in! ^.^ Please review! I'm planning an 'extra' episode coming soon, based rather loosely on one of the Charmed Novels that for some reason they never made into an episode... And it involves a LOT of kissing. So, review coz I need your guy's opinion! And also, to see how many people are interested on it... Or else I won't post it... Mwahahahah! Say... Ten reviews for this chappie? XD I shall be mean... lol! _


	5. Kiss Me pt 1

**A/N**: _Ahhh, yes. As you can see by the title, there is going to be heaps of kissing here. Lime? Maybe... but very very slight. And there are two parts, because it was getting long for just one chapter. Also, coz I might not have enough time, now that I've started work, and I've been kind of distracted by a certain AWESOME as movie, like AVATAR. [Has anyone seen it? It's EPIC!] Currently obsessing about it, and I might need to write a one-shot about it to get it out of my system. Seriously, that movie just sticks to your head like awesomely slimy bubble gum. XD Anyway, enough of my musings. I'm sure you probably skipped this thing when you read the title so... Hahaha... _

_Bythe way. Given this chapter, and what I think I'm heading to in the long run, the rating might change to M. Yes. M. For reasons you might probably know. Just warning you ahead of time, because you might not be able to find it on the basic search anymore. ^_^ And yes, now I shall shut up. Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: **_These characters are simply borrowed for my own personal gain and amusement. I repeat: BORROWED. That good for 'ya?_

**Chapter Five - Kiss Me**

**_Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight  
Lead me out on the moonlit floor  
Lift your open hand  
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance  
Silver moon's sparkling…  
So kiss me_**

**- Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer)**

"Piper, you need to stop spinning for a moment and have fun…" Prue heard Leo by the other side of the counter.

As was expected, Piper was at the bar, serving drinks like a maniac. Walking towards them, she sat down on one of the stools. "He's right Piper," she added as her sister poured a concoction of drinks on a glass. "It's _your_ club! Dance, be merry!"

"I can't. These drinks are not gonna serve themselves!" Piper answered. The club was packed with so many people. It was like Valentine's Day, except in November.

Sixpence None The Richer had been hard to book, but seeing tonight's crowd had been worth it. So many people had come, and some were still coming in. P3 had been a bit down ever since she took that whole month of vacation 'up there' and they were still recovering. Even though Prue and Phoebe had managed to keep it going, it was more of like hanging in the lifeline rather than anything else. Today, she happened to get a stroke of luck and managed to book them before Christmas. It was almost like a small miracle.

"Piper…" Leo said, in his most adoring voice.

Piper just looked at him. "Don't use that voice on me! I can't Leo, there's just too much to do…" she told him.

"But, Piper…" he said again, this time combining it with a little pout that made him look cuter.

Prue smiled at the exchange. Piper, who was still trying to mix up another drink couldn't help looking at Leo and his little antic. Ever since 'they' had let him come back, they'd tried to cherish every moment together. Sighing, Piper finally agreed. "One song. And then I'll have to get back."

As if on cue, the chords of the next song started to resonate through the amplifiers of the band and onto the listening ears of the crowd. Leo smiled and waited for Piper to come out from behind the counter and led her to dance. The guitar strums gave everyone an ambiance of familiarity and warmth… Something romantic was coming their way. People in the dance floor who recognized the song immediately started clapping while the others got their partners to dance. The first lines of the song set the mood.

"This one's for the couples!" announced Leigh Nash on the mike.

_Kiss me, out of the bearded barley…_

_Lightly, beside the green, green grass_

_Swing, swing, swing the spinning wear those shoes and I will wear that dress, oh…_

Prue took her camera and adjusted the lenses for better lighting and focus, setting the frame on one of the band member's guitars. The different colored lights in the dark room was great for taking pictures and she was glad they'd given her this particular assignment. 415 was publishing an article featuring the hottest clubs in San Francisco. What better way to promote your sister's club than to sneak it into one of the most popular magazines in the city? If only she wasn't feeling a bit mushy with all the romanticism and gooey eyes around her. It just rubbed in the fact that she was actually _working_ on a Friday night, with _no _date to speak of whatsoever. Could this night get any sadder?

And then she saw Phoebe and Cole on the dance floor through her lenses. _I had to ask… _she snapped sarcastically in her head. She got off the stool and left her empty glass on the counter to look for another angle to find. She was much too distracted setting the exposure on her camera when she bumped into the couple she had been observing before.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!"

"Prue!" Phoebe exclaimed when she turned around. "What'cha _doing_?" her youngest sister gritted between her teeth in a hinting tone, still smiling. Clearly, she'd just interrupted a romantic moment. Prue smiled apologetically.

Cole, who was on the other side, gestured with one hand , while the other still on Phoebe's waist. "Hi!"

Prue gave him a nod. "Hi… Sorry to interrupt." she apologized again. "I was just gonna take a picture of you guys."

"Oooh sure!" Phoebe agreed, ready to pose.

Cole shifted in his place, a bit hesitant. "Uh, I'm not exactly the most photogenic guy." he said.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe said, looking up to him. "You could pass for a model!"

"Is that true now, Ms. Phoebe Halliwell?" he asked her grinning. Prue tried to look away as their flirting got worse.

"Very, _very_ true, Mr. Cole Turner…" she smiled back at him in the same manner.

"Eherm…" Prue cleared her throat. "Yeah, hi? Big sister still _here_."

"Oh, yeah… Sorry. Forgot you were there…" said Phoebe, still looking at Cole. Prue didn't know which was worse: that the perv was flirting with her sister or that she didn't have a date to flirt with herself. Rolling her eyes she put the camera up in front of her face to capture their blissful moment.

"Okay, steady now…" she said while behind the camera, adjusting the focus. Watching them look into each other's eyes all happy and dreamy behind the lenses, she had to bite down the feeling of jealousy that came onto her. Focusing the camera, everything else went blurry except for the two of them dancing and she took a picture. Moving quickly on to the other side, she snapped another one from a different angle. If it didn't make the magazine, they would at least have a picture together.

Then, all of the sudden, everything in the room went dark. All of the lights went out and the band stopped playing. The flash on her camera was the last light she saw before everything else went into darkness. Prue lowered the camera from her face and looked around, trying to see.

"Phoebe? Cole?" she called out amidst the confusion. Everyone in the room including the band became restless and nervous, which made it harder for everyone to find anyone.

She tried calling out again. "Pipe-?"

But her sentence was cut short by a pair of lips attacking her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden contact. _What the?_ Stiffening, her hands drew together and tried to push whoever it was away, but all the person did was place a hand on the small of her back to keep her still and press her even closer against him. His other hand went to her wrists on his chest and held them there while he focused on the kiss. She did not know what was happening but she kept struggling against her captor, which made everything worse. Her body rubbed against his in all the right places and tilted her head to a more open position. All she knew was that there was a guy, a very strong guy who wouldn't let her move an inch and who was slowly making her melt on the spot. His lips ravaged hers, violent, slow and passionate. She hadn't been kissed like that in a very long time: hard and sensuous, merciless and scorching; the kiss coaxed her to respond. The urge to fight or even use her powers against him went out the window when he took her lower lip and bit it softly, sending a powerful jolt down her back. Soothing the pain, he ran the tip of his tongue across her lip, exactly where he'd nipped her. Soon enough, she closed her eyes and let go.

Brush met another brush and she gave back what she'd received in full force. The heat just kept building, his hand caressing her back, finding the hem of her low-cut blouse and slipping in a warm hand. He kissed her like she was a drug and he was an addict who had been deprived of for a very, very long time. And just when she was about to open her mouth and deepen the kiss…

He pulled away.

A tiny moan of protest escaped her lips when she was left hanging by the brink. _No… Not yet! _she moaned in her head. Frowning at the loss, Prue opened her eyes and saw nothing, only darkness. And then, almost blindingly, the power came back on again and the lights started flashing. Everyone looked unsettled, trying to find people.

"It's okay! It's okay!" she heard Piper's voice in the distance. "Just a minor power cut, that's all!"

Everything looked hazy and blurred, like she was drunk or something. Watching the blurry faces looking at her, she recognized Piper and Phoebe.

"Prue…?" Phoebe's voice echoed in her head. She sounded so far away. "Are you alright?"

Feeling even dizzier, she did not hear Cole or Piper's voice joining Phoebe's. Their faces floated for a flimsy moment before her eyes finally closed and she lost consciousness. The last thought within her mind whispered a question: Who was the guy who kissed her?

* * *

"That went splendidly well…" Cole mused, seated in his office desk. "Report this to the Triad." He motioned at his shadow, who detached itself from his reflected pose on the wall and disappeared silently out the window.

The first step was done. And done beautifully. The demon had been transferred inside her without any problems. Although she had fainted and Piper and Phoebe would probably be worried, they wouldn't suspect a thing out of him, and she wouldn't be able to say anything about him at all. The timing was just perfect… he couldn't have asked for a better moment. He just felt… good. Especially after that searing kiss. Too bad she was going to die. The witch was actually not a bad kisser. _Not bad at all…_ It had almost made him wish he didn't have to stop. He could've kissed her all night, and probably done more. What harm could it do bedding the witch?

_Don't get too cocky. You can't fail again._

The Triad hadn't been too happy about the fiasco with the time traveling during All Hallow's Eve. Then again, they _did_ have to admit it was a bit too farfetched. The other side would have obviously been alerted to their plans. Changing everything since 1670 would _definitely _be too radical a change they would not allow, especially when dealing with one of the most powerful forces of good they had come up against in centuries. His rhetoric though had been pretty good, considering they'd given him another chance and he wasn't dead yet.

This time he'd just have to target the Charmed Ones' most powerful link.

_Prue Halliwell. _

* * *

"Morning!" Prue's cheery voice greeted from the hallway.

Piper and Phoebe looked up from their cups of coffee. The Saturday morning's sun shone through the window curtains, giving a cheerful look inside the kitchen. Prue had just come down in her robes, with her pajamas still on, looking well rested and perky. Not like she had fainted last night in the middle of the nightclub at all.

"Hey, morning hun." Greeted Phoebe.

"Yeah, good morning indeed." Added Piper. "How are you?" she asked in a concerned voice.

Prue went to the kitchen counter and took some already-toasted bread out of the toaster. "I'm fine, actually. How are you?"

Piper and Phoebe gave each other a look. There was clearly something wrong. "You don't remember anything about last night?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh, no actually. Why?" she asked as she moved down to reach for the water boiler.

"_Why_? Prue, you fainted in the middle of the dance floor." Piper deadpanned.

Phoebe motioned at Piper. "Maybe she _did _hit her head… Like, _really_ hard." she said, sipping on her mug.

"But Leo healed her." Piper answered Phoebe, said puzzled. "Doesn't it cure concussions and whatever damage it might have done?"

"I dunno, maybe he didn't do it properly?" Phoebe answered. "Leo?" she called out to the ceiling.

Not looking up from the boiling water she was pouring on her cup, Prue finished making her coffee and sat down on the kitchen table. "Hey, hey, no need to call Leo. I'm fine! See?" Prue said, smiling at them for effect.

A swirl of blue orb lights appeared by the door to the kitchen anyway, materializing into Leo. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up." Prue answered. "You guys just worry too much." She said facing her sisters.

"She can't remember anything from last night." Answered Phoebe.

Prue picked the piece of toast she brought with her. "Hey! I do_ too_!" she protested while munching on the bread.

Piper looked at her. "Do _not_." she mimicked her tone and the way she said it with her mouth full. Prue just snickered at her.

"Do _too_!" Prue said back, more insistently.

"Oh, yeah? Okay, then can you tell us what happened last night?" Challenged Phoebe, as Piper and Leo listened intently for the answer.

Prue paused for a moment, swallowing the piece of toast. "I got kissed."

"You got _what?_" the sisters asked almost simultaneously. "By whom?" Piper asked.

Prue tried to brace herself for the series of bombarded questions that were going to come her way when she answered that particular question. "I… don't know."

Piper and Phoebe just looked at her shocked at what they were hearing. "You don't _know_? How? When? You didn't see him? How could you not have possibly seen him!"

Prue got up from where she was sitting and headed for the sun room while Piper and Phoebe walked around her, freaking out. "Is that why you fainted? Did he do anything to you?" they continued, their voices alternating between questions.

"Uh, girls, I think we should let her talk?" said Leo who had followed them from the kitchen, interrupting their interrogation and into the sunroom. Prue had managed to sit down on one of the couches, still sipping her coffee. "One question at a time. Piper?"

"Heey! How come she gets to go first?" protested Phoebe.

"'Cause I'm older. Shush!" said Piper. "So, _how_ again could you not have _seen_ him?"

Prue shifted in her seat. "It was very dark. I didn't see a thing." She couldn't believe that was the answer. It sounded so irresponsible in her head.

"It must've happened during the power cut." Leo commented.

"Did he do anything to you? Besides the kissing of course…" Phoebe asked.

"Uh… No, not really." Prue frowned, trying to remember. "All I know is that he kissed me. And then when the lights came back on, he was gone, as if he hadn't been there at all."

"Okay…" Piper tried to process.

Phoebe sat down on the couch beside her and jumped forward with a pillow. "So how was the kiss?" she asked, excited. "Was it soft and tentative…? Or was it like a 'I gotta have you now' kind of thing?"

_Trust Phoebe to ask these kind of things._

"Phoebe!" chided Piper. "How could you even ask that! For all we know, this could be a very dangerous guy!"

Phoebe just scoffed at her. "Pfft. As if _you_ don't want to know," she said. Piper just gave her a silent ha-ha gesture.

"Piper's right. He must've done something to her to make her faint afterwards." Leo commented. "And if worse came to worst, it could even be a demon…"

"Okay. So we'll check the Book of Shadows later!" Phoebe said. "Now, back to my question. How was it?"

They all rolled their eyes. "If you _must _know…" Prue smiled, looking down at the cushion in her arms. "It was very, _very_ good…" she ended in a quiet whisper.

Her younger sisters gasped. Leo just looked on, amused but slightly worried. It was something to get kissed by a stranger, it was another to faint because of it. A kiss couldn't have been _that _good, could it?

"_Anyways_, as much as I'd love to describe to you the details of my private life," Prue said getting off the couch with her empty cup of coffee. "I need to get going now. Those pictures have a deadline!"

* * *

The glass doors slid automatically to the side when Cole entered 415. The building looked metallic on the outside, the whole outer core full of mirrors. It wasn't too big, but enough to probably house a small enterprise and compete with the buildings beside it. Standing by the lobby, he waited, lurking by the walls, careful not to draw attention. People came in and out of the sliding doors, a line waited at the reception, while a bunch more came out of the elevators. After five more minutes of waiting, he saw what he'd been waiting for.

Prue rummaged through her bag, trying to find the envelope with all the pictures she'd managed to develop this morning. Coming into the building, Cole observed her, trying to see if the essence had started taking effect. Looking up from her bag, she noticed the people coming in and out of the elevators. _It's a Saturday, people. Why aren't you guys at home enjoying the sun?_ she thought to herself. _Probably because of the same reason you're here, _her conscience answered back. She just couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. That had been the most passionate, most fulfilling and most hunger-driven one she'd _ever_ had in a while. The only one she could remember that could compare was probably Andy and her back in high school, and that was a very, very long time ago. Just thinking about it made kept her on fire.

"Hi Prue! How was your assignment?"

Startled, she glanced beside her towards the guy who had spoken up and she saw Diego, one of the photographers for the sports' section.

"Oh hi! I-It was good, yeah, got 'em right here." She said, showing him the manila envelope. _Is it me, or are those lips just…_ A wave of lust came to her. Her body grew even hotter, no thanks either to what she had been thinking about just a few seconds ago.

Cole did not take his eyes off of her for a moment. If the essence was going to take effect, it should be right about now, with that man setting off the trigger.

"Looks good. That's your sister's club isn't it?" he asked, checking out the pictures inside the envelope.

Prue's eyes darkened. _Maybe if I could just see? There's no harm in trying right…? _

"Come here…" she said in a low husky voice. Taking the manila envelope from his hands and dropping it on the floor, she grabbed his face and pulled him towards her, kissing him with as much passion as she wanted to receive.

_No, no, no… _The kiss felt bland. There was no fire, no thrill, no life. This was not it at all. Pulling out of the kiss, she frowned at the lack of air. She bent over a bit, gasping for air and soon enough the drowning sensation went away.

"Whoah! Prue, I'm sorry but… uh, I have girlfriend!" exclaimed Diego, who was also breathless. "But that! That was… phew… _that _was amazing!"

Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, realizing what she'd just done. "Oh my god! Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I don't know what came over me!"

Cole grinned from a distance. He had to admit she was a pretty good kisser. _One of the perks for this little spell, I guess._ He'd felt the kiss. Every single little bit about it. The guy was probably seeing stars right now. He would too, if he were not a demon, but that was quite good advantage. Getting distracted right now would be a mistake he couldn't afford to make, and Prue was strong. She wouldn't be easy to take down. The sisters would probably figure it out, but not before she died of course. He watched as she panicked and probably sprouted apologies like confetti, picking the manila folder up from the floor and running to the elevators like she was being chased by the devil himself.

* * *

Five hours later, they had managed to leave the house for a walk in the park. Relaxation and fun was to be the theme of the afternoon. No work, a successful night… Not a demon in sight, and just the perfect sunny autumn weather: not too hot, but not too cold either. Golden Gate Park had been one of the familiar places they'd been going to since they could remember. It was here that they first managed to scrape their knees, learned how to ride a bike, go on picnics… Where Prue and Andy shared their first kiss… Where Phoebe had spied in on them and told Grams. It was place full of memories indeed.

"When did you say Cole was gonna come?" Piper asked Phoebe while walking. They had decided to take a break and celebrate a bit from the whole demon-hunting thing. Leo walked with his arm draped around her in a very sweet gesture.

"Soon." answered Phoebe on the other side of the cobble-stoned pathway. "He said he just needed to check something out first and then he'd have the afternoon off."

They were heading for the big spread of grass by the lake where they could relax and have a picnic. Many people, families, couples, kids, and teenagers in their usual groups were hanging out around the lake, which also had a playground nearby. Guys barely in their twenties were perched up the skateboard ramps, where they laughed and hung out as if they were on top of the world. Everyone was clearly taking advantage of the day to relax. Finding a spot near the playground and right beside the lake, they laid out their picnic blanket and Leo put the basket on top.

Phoebe scanned her surroundings, trying to see where Cole might be coming from, while Leo and Piper were busy cuddling and being all cute. From a distance she saw a couple making out. The outline of the woman seemed vaguely memorable, although her face was half covered by the guy's helmet. The long black hair, her frame, and maybe even her clothing _did _resemble her. She could swear Prue had the exact same jacket as the lady. She'd definitely say it was Prue, were it not for the obviously very heated make out session the lady was having with one of the skater boys. Her older sister was not one to go for guys like him, much less randomly kiss people in the middle of the park. _That's just so un-Prue-like._

"Hey, is that Prue?" asked Leo, who seemed to have spotted the same couple.

Phoebe glanced back at him to answer. "Was thinking the exact same thing, but nah… Maybe me in high school, but definitely _not_ Prue." she dismissed.

"No Phoebe, look!" Piper pointed at them. "It _is _Prue!"

"What?" Phoebe whipped her head back to the same direction. The lady had pulled out from the kiss, and was now shaking her head, her hands on her mouth, mortified and panting. When Phoebe looked at her face, her jaw dropped like a block of lead from a two-storey building. It _was _Prue. What was even more unbelievable was that her supposedly sensible and responsible sister, the epitome of decorum and composure, had stopped and stared at another guy coming her way. And with that, she just promptly kissed him as well, never mind that the girlfriend was _right there_ on his arm who was too indignant to do something. The sisters could not believe what was happening either. Moving fast, Leo got up from his comfortable position with Piper and ran to Prue who was getting berated by the guy's girlfriend.

Piper and Phoebe watched them, still in awe, but now a bit more amused and worried. Leo came back with the offender after pacifying the angry girlfriend. They could only imagine what he said to the couple. The guy though didn't look like he was complaining, although Prue still looked mortified and something else.

"Okay. _What_ was _THAT_?" asked Piper, eyes wide to emphasize her point. Prue sat down slowly on the picnic blanket, her face pale.

"Did you lose your keys down that guy's throat or something?" asked Phoebe, a bit more sarcastically, poking fun on her sister. It wasn't every day your older sister was more irresponsible than you.

Prue was still looking a bit dazed, but managed to focus when Piper shook her a bit. "Hey, kissing beauty! Here!"

"Oh. Hi." Prue said waking up from her haze. "What's up?"

Piper and Phoebe gave each other a look. Rearranging the relaxed positions, they sat down in front of Prue as close as possible. "Is there something you would like to tell us?" Phoebe asked.

"Like, why are you acting like a hormonal teenager all of a sudden?" Piper pitched in.

Prue stared back at them, "I just wanted to know what it'd be like to kiss the guy! Is that so bad?" she asked them back.

"Hey guys!"

The voice came from above their heads. Looking up, they saw Cole in his usual suit, smiling down on them, but mostly on Phoebe.

"Cole!" Phoebe exclaimed, getting up. "You're here!" she said, a bit surprised but with controlled enthusiasm. If Prue was on a kissing rampage, all their boyfriends here were in danger. She wondered why she hadn't attacked Leo yet.

Piper who was still observing Prue, tried to figure out what was happening to her sister. With this, she saw her eyes darken, dead-set on Cole who was giving Phoebe a hello kiss. _Oh hell no!_

"Prue?" she called out to her. "Prue! Don't!" she tried whispering as harshly as possible so Prue could hear her but not the couple beside them.

Prue was in some sort of trance. She could hear Piper, but she was miles away. The only thing she needed to do was find that guy who kissed her, and if she needed to kiss every single guy in the world, then so be it. Slowly getting up, she was determined to pry Phoebe off. She felt lust and desire, but something else. Anger. Angry at the fact that Cole was kissing someone else. Angry because it was supposed to be her and not this… this lady.

_Get off of him…_ she thought. And with that she put her arm on Phoebe flung her to the side. The control on her powers had blurred and the force was enough to throw Phoebe to the ground.

"Leo!" Piper said, looking at him. He knew what to do. Going behind Prue, he put his arms around her to stop her.

"No!" she moaned as if in pain. She struggled with Leo, trying to release herself from his grip. Phoebe, got up and went to Cole.

"I think you should go… Uh, Prue's not feeling too well today." she said to him, apologetically.

Cole was looking at Prue. _I shouldn't have come too close._ "Yeah…" he agreed. It was much to dangerous. "Call me?"

"Yeah," she said, giving him a brief kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later…"

As Cole left the scene, Prue started to calm down. Leo, who was still holding her, loosened his grip and her head fell down to her chest.

"What's gotten into her?" Phoebe asked annoyed. She had been right about the boyfriend theory. Although Cole wasn't exactly her boyfriend yet, it was common knowledge that she liked him, and Prue knew that _very_ well, so this would count.

"I don't know, but we better go home." Piper said, "I bet the Book of Shadows has something to say about this."

* * *

She was getting weaker, and that was good. He was still trying to control this power he had over her, but he would not make another mistake. This time he would just have to disappear from Phoebe for a couple of days and keep his distance until the curse took full force. If a hundred meters was enough to awaken the curse inside of her, then a hundred meters from her would have to do.

Tonight, he would enforce the curse.

* * *

Prue opened her eyes. She was still in her room, dark and lit only by the moonlight outside shining through her window. The white curtain waved at the wind coming in. She frowned, rubbing her eyes. _No wonder it's so cold._ Not bothering to put her robe on, she got out from under the covers and walked quickly to the windows to close them. A chill went down her spine when a voice whispered in her ear.

"Don't be afraid…" he said. "Do you recognize me?"

Prue's first instinct was to turn around, but a pair of strong arms held her in place and hugged her from behind. Closing her eyes, she did not feel fear, but a sense of tranquility.

"Yes…" she answered him. She felt like she had found what she'd been looking for all day, and for some reason, she _did_ recognize him, which soothed her instead of frightened her.

"Of all the things I have seen, things from centuries past, you are the most beautiful." he said in a low voice. His hand trailed over her long raven black hair, his fingers tangling themselves between the soft locks to put it aside on her right shoulder and show the porcelain white skin of her neck. His lips barely touched her skin, and his breath tickled her.

His mouth went to the shell of her ear. "I feel as though I've waited all my life to meet you, to know you, to have you."

His hand trailed a path of fire down her right shoulder, taking the strap of her nightgown along, down her arms, to her waist… Her hip… Her thigh. The hunger she had felt before increased by a tenfold and quickly, she finally turned around to kiss him. She didn't care what he looked like or who he was, or what he was doing there. Those questions could be answered later… She only wanted to feel what she'd felt last night and that was the only thing that mattered right now. Their lips touched and she felt like she was going to burst. Soon enough, they were in a heated battle. The kiss was passionate, hungry, almost desperate. Her arms wound themselves around his neck to bring herself even closer to him, pressing her body against his. His hands roamed her back, caressing through her nightgown, a hand cradling her neck while the other explored uncharted territory.

Little by little, she started to feel the need for air, except the need for his kiss was close in competition. Finally, when she could almost not take it anymore, she tried pulling out and catch her much need breath, but instead finding out that she could not breathe anyway. Her eyes filled with fear when she opened them. He had disappeared, the spell broken when she broke the kiss, but the feeling of suffocation persisted.

_Air! I need air!_ her mind screamed, trying to will her lungs to take the oxygen in. Bending over, clutching her neck and chest, she felt the lightheadedness. Soon she would lose consciousness and die.

"No…" she tried to say with a choked voice, while tears fell down her cheeks.

And just before the moment she felt herself slipping away… She woke up.

**A/N: **_And there's part one folks! Want part two? Then review! [ah crap, I'm rhyming again XD] But yes, I'm serious. No reviews, no next chapter. Mwahahhaha! XD_


	6. Kiss Me pt 2

**A/N:** _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I know it's been AGES since I've posted you guys that cliff hanger! 4 months to be exact! That was the length of my first semester as a second year university student, so I wasn't able to post anything. Uni sucks the life and inspiration right out of you with their stupid academic essays... Sigh. BUT, I have a six week sem break to enjoy! So, I think I will be able to churn out around two or three chapters more depending on how inspired I am before the end of these holidays! ^_^_

_Since it's been so long, I wrote u an awesomely intense chapter. Well, not too intense yet. That's reserved for later! ^_^ I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this fic yet! You might need a refresher by reading the previous chapter, since this is a continuation of it so you would want to check that one out first just in case. I needed to change the way I do my breaks. Stupid things just kept disappearing, and if I don't put them in, you will be thoroughly confused. So there. Oh, by the way, t__hanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. You took heed of my warning. And so I profusely apologize for the epic delay._

_ANYWAYS, so without further ado, I present to you Chapter 6!_

**DISCLAIMER: **_And blah di blah di blah. It's not mine, she said. Oh! And I also need to acknowledge some awesome awesome people who have helped me do a comeback from those 4 months of hiatus. One of them is my awesome awesome pot dealer for helping me with the side effects of the curse! (Which I shall not mention yet coz you're supposed to read). The other one is my aunt, who helped me characterize Cole even better and for being so dramatic... Teheee... Thankies thankies! Muchly thanked and appreciated!_

**CHAPTER SIX - Kiss Me, pt. 2**

_**We all wet our lips  
to prepare for a kiss  
But it never came  
We all wet our lips  
to prepare for a kiss  
It was all a game**_

**- Moan (Cute is What We Aim For)**

_I need to find him._

The first ray of light over San Francisco had not come out yet. Prue got up and raced to change from her nightclothes. Grabbing a pair of jeans and the first shirt she could find in her closet, she went quietly down the stairs and out of the door. She would not be able to stand this desire anymore. She needed him.

* * *

The rousing sensation awoke him. Prue was on the move, and pretty agitated it seemed. The kisses only lasted a few seconds each, with a rather short interval in between.

_Is she trying to kiss her way through all of San Francisco?_

Nevermind the technicalities. Each kiss that was not his would keep on debilitating her anyway, and the more she did it, the easier it would be for him to kill her. Feeling every single one of them was not part of the plan though. It wasn't so bad and he could probably live with it... If only she weren't such a good kisser. Taking a quick shower, he donned his clothes on prepared himself for the day. He could not track her with his demonic abilities as Belthazor, but the link between them was getting stronger. The curse seemed to be overpowering the witch more and more. Opening what looked like a rather modern painting on the wall, with a zigzag crack part in between, he took out an Athame out of the reddish glow it emitted inside. Phoebe and the other sister did not seem to know what was going on yet, so they wouldn't call for the help of the Whitelighter to sense her for a while. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the faint liaison. She was still too far, but at the rate she was going, he would find her in a couple of hours. Or at least before the Whitelighter did.

Finding a solid remnant of her essence, Cole blinked.

* * *

"Morning!" Phoebe called in from the hallway and into the kitchen. "Aw, hey come on! I thought you were still worried _they_ were watching?"

Piper and Leo stood in the kitchen floor with only their bathrobes and sharing heated embrace. Breaking the kiss, Piper answered breathless, "As you can see... Not anymore!"

For the past couple of weeks, Piper had been reluctant to make any amorous physical contact with Leo after he was orbed out while in the process of doing _it_. The fact that _someone _could be observing every single move you did, _every single moment of the day_, was a bit unnerving. Especially when _they_ were your boyfriend's bosses.

Leo smiled at Phoebe sheepishly.

"Don't look at me like that... Too much info!" Phoebe said to him.

Tuesday morning continued on quietly as the three of them got into the daily normal routine. Breakfast consisted of whatever Piper had concocted to start the day, some toast, the much needed coffee and the newspaper sections. "How was that date with Cole the other night?" ventured Piper.

Phoebe looked up from the newspaper, "It was... good," she answered, going back to the newspaper.

"You don't sound too... _happy_, about it..." Piper replied.

Phoebe gave a sigh and put down the paper and the piece of toast she had just taken from the plate in a defeated slump on the table. "I don't know..." she said, "I feel like, we've been getting close. But every time I feel like we're about to go somewhere, he goes and pulls away. It's like he got burnt or something!"

"Maybe he's had a bad experience before?" suggested Piper.

"Well, I wouldn't know! Why? Because he never tells me about himself," continued Phoebe, "It's as if he were hiding something from me... At first, everything goes really well: He laughs, I laugh... He flirts, I flirt back... And then boom. I hit an imaginary wall!"

Piper put down the plate of eggs on the table. "How much do you like him?"

Phoebe put the paper back up to cover her face, which must've reddened with the question. "A lot..." she said in a tiny whisper.

"Well, if you like him enough, you'll just have to wait to find out," Piper concluded with a grin.

Phoebe was clearly going head over heels for that guy. Personally, Piper did not have anything against him. So far he'd been driving her sister crazy, but there wasn't a lot she could tell from him. _Maybe I should watch this guy more... _She had been way too busy to concentrate on Phoebe's problems lately, especially when dealing with her own magical relationship issues. Leo and her had had a couple of issues over the past few weeks. Nothing too bad. Just issues any normal couples had. Well not exactly _normal_. As _normal_ as one could get, she guessed, when one was a witch and the other a Whitelighter. A few moments of comfortable silence passed, with each of them lost on their own thoughts, till they noticed there was something missing from the picture.

"Where's Prue? Is she up yet? I want to know if there's still hot water," asked Piper.

Phoebe looked around. She was right, Prue hadn't come down yet. "I don't know... Prue?" Phoebe yelled into the hallway and waited for her sister to answer.

Leo looked puzzled. "That's odd. She's usually the first one up..."

"Let me go check," said Piper.

Moments later, Piper came running back down the stairs. "She's not there."

"Well, that was early," Leo commented.

"No. Her car's still here... Her bed isn't made yet! All her photography equipment is in her room, the whole thing's untouched... and there's STILL hot water!"

Phoebe looked at her sister surprised, "Oh that is bad..."

"What, because there is hot water left...?" Leo chuckled. "You would think tha-"

"Nooo. She's gone! As in disappeared!" Piper interrupted.

"Remember yesterday? When she attacked Cole?" Phoebe pitched in. "You don't think..?"

Leo and Piper looked at Phoebe, realizing what her comment implied. "Leo, try sensing her. Phoebe, Book of Shadows."

* * *

Prue had been wandering around their neighbourhood, her desperation growing.

_I've waited all my life to meet you, to know you, to have you..._

The words and the voice resonated through her skull. She needed to find him, she needed _him._ Not anyone else. Seeing a man in a suit talking in his cell phone walking towards her, she picked up her pace and approached him head on. She threw the phone into the pavement and grabbed his face towards hers.

"Hey! What the he-" the man tried to stop her until his voice was muffled by her mouth. Kissing him passionately, she soon felt the suffocating sensation and a morbid feeling in her gut.

"It's not you!" she screamed in frustration. Looking at him, she felt disgusted and waved him out of the way. The man hit the wall of the building beside them.

Walking away, she tried finding another man, but she couldn't find anyone else. It was too early in the morning. _The city centre... Everyone should be there._ Looking around, she found a garbage can with pieces of what used to be a chair. Grabbing a piece, she broke the window of the first car she sat eyes on and went inside, the alarm system blaring off. Turning her finger directed at the key hole, she turned on the car and put the alarm out. A part of her was surprised it actually worked, but the strongest part told her to keep going. She would not be able to rest until she found him.

* * *

The Whitelighter opened the door to the attic, finding the two sisters huddled over a book. "I can't sense her."

"What do you mean you can't?" Piper asked wide-eyed, walking towards him.

"I can't. It's like bad cellphone reception but worse."

"You _think_?" Piper butted in.

Rolling his eyes to say that was not the point, Leo continued. "The only way I can _not_ sense a charge is when something's blocking me from reaching her. That only happens if she's down _there_..." Leo said, pointing down to the ground or what's underneath it, "or if she's..."

Phoebe and Piper now looked at him even more worried. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!" said Piper, in a high-pitched voice.

"Piper, calm down. We don't know yet, there's no point in getting scared like that..." Phoebe said, going behind Piper to put her hands on her shoulders. "Something's probably blocking her from us. If she'd died, something should've already happened by now."

_Like all hell breaking loose, _Phoebe mentally added.

Suddenly, the Book of Shadows gave a thud. The three of them hurried towards it to read the open page.

"_Cusan Marwolaeth_,_"_ read Phoebe. "Also known as the Kiss of Death."

_**Cusan Marwolaeth  
**__The curse of an unrequitted demon.  
__  
When Lascaris, a powerful Warlock, fell in love with a mortal woman,  
__he forsook all of his brothers behind to pursue her.  
__The woman, pure in heart, did not respond in kind to her consort and  
__turned his proposal of marriage down._

_Lascaris, angered, lay upon the woman a curse:  
__Whoever she may fall in love with will lead to her demise,  
__sealing their fate with a Kiss of Death._

"Talk about rejection issues..." said Phoebe.

"This is it. It says here that Lascaris committed suicide when the woman didn't come back to him and chose to die instead. But that the essence of the curse can be transferred to anyone by anyone, and just pass it on through a kiss... " Piper said, pointing at the old ink writing.

"The power cut at the club. That's when it must've happened," Leo mused. "_If back where you belong you happen to be, and to me thy precious kiss give, thy life spent with mine I may spare thee..._" he kept reading at the bottom of the page.

Phoebe looked at the rhyme, "Back where you belong, a kiss... Spare her life..." she murmured aloud. "I think we're supposed to find the demon or warlock who did this."

"And then what?" asked Piper. "It doesn't say how to vanquish him. Just that he _might_ spare her life..."

"Well... The curse was made by a guy in love right? So maybe if the girl from the story had gone back to him, and she kissed him... She would've lived!" Phoebe ended in a happy tone. "That's it! His kiss takes away the curse!"

"Uhuh. Yes. Good luck with that..." Piper said in a sceptic tone.

"Phoebe, what if the demon who did this isn't in love with Prue, but just wants to kill her?" Leo asked her.

Phoebe's face fell. "Oh..." He was right. Why would a demon want to kiss Prue to take off the curse, when he wanted her to die in the first place?

"Okay, well at least we know what's wrong with her now." said Piper. "We need to hurry. Uh... You and Leo try to find Prue. She couldn't have gone too far, she didn't take her car or anything... I'll stay here and try to find something in the Book to take the curse off without having to find Mr. Kiss-of-Life... or Death, or whatever..."

Phoebe and Leo nodded. "Hurry you guys! Who knows how many random men she must've kissed by now!" Piper said, before watching the familiar luminous blue light of Leo's orbing make them disappear.

* * *

Cole closed his eyes trying to concentrate on what was now a bit more tangible link that he had with Prue. He had been trying to follow her trail all over the city for an hour, but he would lose the link every single time. He had managed to blink into alley ways and dark corners which were only a few meters away from where he'd sensed her, but she would no longer be there. She had managed somehow get to the city centre in a matter of minutes.

_She must've taken her car_, he had mused. But trying to find her in the middle of a bustling San Francisco had been hard. With all of the people he could also sense, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack, to use the cliché.

It was bizarre feeling like this. It seemed that as the bond between them grew stronger, the essence inside both of them grew as well. So much so that he was feeling a growing anticipation to see the witch. He probably didn't feel as desperate as she was, but the sweltering hot kisses he'd been feeling constantly for the past hour were beginning to take effect. She was growing mad with passion and frustration. He could feel it by the way her ghostly lips were pressing against his. He'd never felt anything like it before. If he were completely human, he wouldn't have lasted this long from coming to find her and taking her right there on the spot. Fortunately, he was also half-demon, which allowed him a certain degree of self-control over these kind of things. Any other lesser being would have already surrendered. Turning around the corner, he suddenly felt Prue herself and what she was feeling, not just what she did to the men she found. She was close. Very, very close.

* * *

Downtown San Francisco had started filling up with people. It was 8 am. Of course there would be people. Rushing to work, to school, to whatever people did in the mornings. Prue was feverish. Nothing else mattered in her mind right now. She did not even care whether people would discover she was a witch or that she had powers, only that she needed to find _him. _His words were like a mantra in her head and the rest was a blur. The faces of the people she kissed barely registered in her head. Once the kiss felt wrong, she'd throw him to the side, her powers magnifying her actions.

_Find him, find him, find him._

Her breath shortened a second more with each kiss, until she was actually struggling. She knew in the back of her mind that she was going to suffocate, but she couldn't help finding out whether this guy or the next was the one.

And then, she stopped.

She'd felt it. So faint, but she'd definitely felt it. Looking to the right, she found a dark alley way. Entranced, she followed the faint feeling, which kept on growing with every step she took. Her surroundings darkened, the light streaming from the little gap in between the two twenty-storey buildings filtering in but not quite reaching the bottom. The trash on the floor stayed still, and the bustling of the people on the street was left behind. To her, there was only silence. Her breath hitched in anticipation, never minding the suffocation. The butterflies in her stomach, the light-headedness and the fleeting sensation heightened when she turned the corner. She would finally see _him._

"Come here Prue," the distorted voice of a demon beckoned her.

The eldest Charmed One frowned. "You..." her voice not more than a whisper. "You're a demon."

She had to say it out loud, or else she would not believe what she was seeing. The man who had awakened a desire so deep within her could not possibly be a _demon. _His red skin, and the tribal black marks all over his body glistened under the little light that seeped through. And then there were his eyes. Coal-black, with such a deep emptiness within, it was unfathomable something so sombre could exist. Her head screamed for her to get away, to throw him back or at least do something. But whatever it was that she was feeling, it would not let her stop. It just drew her closer and closer to him.

"I am. And you would not believe how long I have waited for this. Come here, Prue," he said, his tone of voice hardening his resolve.

Cole had had to transform into his demonic form. He couldn't even imagine how much effort it was taking to control his other half. Although his human half always proved to be one of his most powerful advantages in his killing missions, this time it proved to be a weakness he could not afford. At least as Belthazor, his evil side was more in power, and that lessened the effect of the curse on his body.

"No..." she said in a strained voice. Waving her hand, Prue threw a random rock towards him, but he stopped with his hand in midair, barely even looking at it.

Watching how he had just dodged her attack, the panic inside her grew. The lack of air forced her to breathe through tiny gasps. At this rate, she would die of suffocation if he did not kill her first. Her body did not want to respond to her command, and as she stared into the black hollow that were his eyes, her brain started to haze...

_Someone help me..._

* * *

Leo and Phoebe had taken the car, just in case they found her in a public place. It wouldn't note bode well for them to orb in the middle of a mall or something.

"Found her yet?" Phoebe asked. She had driven Prue's car so Leo could concentrate on locating her. They had managed to finally leave the suburbs behind and gone to the city centre, although the likelihood of finding her there had gone down exponentially.

"No," Leo said in an annoyed voice. "I can barely sense her, and whenever I think I feel her, it disappears."

"But you can right? Even if it's a tiny bit. That means she's probably still in the city somewhere..." Phoebe said, while stopping for a red light. "And not in the Underworld making out with demons..."

"Well yes, but there's still something blocking me from her. I don't know wha-,"

Leo stopped in mid-sentence, pressing a hand on his temple and closing his eyes to concentrate. It was a cry for help.

"What? What is it? Leo?" she looked at him briefly before seeing the green light.

"Phoebe, turn right. I know where Prue is."

Phoebe stepped on the gas. Turning the wheel to the right and going as fast as she could without getting a ticket, she went ahead all the cars beside her. Leo made her do a few more turns before she pulled up a secluded street, in front of an alleyway. Parking the car, Leo orbed out and opened the door for her.

"Hey! Someone could have seen you!" she chastised him.

"That doesn't matter right now! Come on!"

Running deeper into the alleyway, they were met with a peculiar scene.

"Cole!" Phoebe gasped. "Oh my gosh you found Prue!"

Phoebe and Leo had found an unconscious Prue in the arms of the Assistant District Attorney. Phoebe rushed to her older sister, hurrying to check if she was okay.

"How did you find her?" Leo asked, right behind Phoebe. "We've been looking all over the place..."

Cole looked at him, putting a worried face. "I was coming back from the house of a client when she ambushed me. We ended up in the alley and she passed out," he explained. "Is she going to be alright? She was acting rather... Odd."

The Whitelighter eyed him up, taking his explanation in. "Yes, she should. Let's take her home... The car's over there."

* * *

"Okay, a little bit more of yohimbine..." Piper muttered to herself as she sprinkled some of the smelly herb into the bubbling pot. _I really hope this works._

Piper had scanned the Book of Shadows trying to find out about lifting the curse without finding the actual demon who cast it. So far, this was the only potion she had found, and it wasn't even for curses. _Enchantment can also mean curse, right? _The Book had been pretty general about its effects, only that 'the power will be rejected by the body'. Kind of like a purification potion with a combined spell. She had to tweak the rhyme a bit to adjust it to their current predicament, replacing a couple of words such as 'tainted' with 'cursed', in hopes that it might work. All she had to do was wait for Phoebe and Leo to come back... With Prue, if possible.

_They will find her... I'm sure they will._

And as if on cue, Phoebe's voice rang from the door. "Piper?"

"Did you find her?" asked Piper, running from the kitchen to the door. She saw Phoebe first who had opened the door to give way to Leo who was carrying Prue, unconscious. "Thank goodness you found her! How?"

"Uh, Cole did," answered Leo. Cole signalled a 'Hi' to Piper, to which she nodded giving him a brief hesitant smile and mouthing a 'Thank You'. "She found her by one of those alleyways downtown," Leo continued. "Hey, can we put her down in her room first? I think she might need the rest."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go upstairs," Phoebe said.

"Uh, Phoebe, let Leo and Cole do it. I kinda need help in the kitchen... With Prue's _medicine,_" Piper said, emphasizing the last word.

"Med-? Oh. Okay, yeah..." Phoebe's eyes dawned in understanding. "Guys, if you don't mind. Prue's bedroom is the second door to the left... I just need to help Piper to prepare the doctor's uh, recipe."

"Er, sure..." Cole said, helping Leo up the stairs.

Phoebe and Piper entered the kitchen to a smoking bubbling pot. "Oh crap...!" Piper said, rushing to turn off the stove. "I think we can still salvage it..."

"What is it? Did you find a cure?" asked Phoebe.

"Well, not _exactly._ More like a make-shift one," answered Piper. "I found some kind of purification spell that expels evil spirits. It doesn't specify for whom we can use it, but it's the closest thing I could find. I tweaked it, so that it would work with just the Power of Two and a spell."

"Will it work?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to find out," the older sister said, taking the piece of paper where she'd written the spell. Carefully, she poured the pink liquid into a vial. "Okay, here's to Prue..."

* * *

Leo and Cole waited for the two sisters to come into the room. For two guys who were dating the sisters, they somehow did not know what to talk about. It was more than an awkwardness for Leo. Cole was just... _different. _The Halliwells, as much as they were blood related, differed a lot in their taste for men.

"So, uh... Who was that client you visited before?" asked Leo, trying to lessen the uncomfortable air in the room.

Cole thought fast, taken aback by his comment. He was still trying to control the curse within his own body. With Prue just lying there on the bed, it was just too big a temptation, especially in his human form. "Oh, just a case I've been working on for a while now."

"Oh," Leo answered. He couldn't think of much to add to that. To top it off, he didn't seem to be doing well. He was completely pale, and if he weren't so distracted, he would swear he was shaking. His thought train was interrupted by the familiar tingling feeling. A bit glad he would have to get out of there, he knew he was being called, and instinctively looked up to the ceiling. "Uh, could you watch Prue for a bit? I just need to check on something."

"Sure, go ahead," Cole answered as calmly as he could. By the way the Whitelighter had acted, he could bet he'd been called _up there. _At least now he could finish what he started.

Making sure Leo had already left the room, Cole took a deep breath and took out the athame from his coat pocket. Closing his eyes, he got a hold of himself and his body, which was desperately trying to lean over and kiss her. If he had made it through the car ride without giving in, he would be able to do it now that he was so close. Looking at her sleeping peacefully, flashbacks over their past encounters zoomed through his head like a silent motion picture. It was not so much as her voice that he could hear, but the subtle details lingered. Little things, like the smell of her hair, her giddy-look from a few weeks ago... The look of fury in her eyes when she thought he was the one groping her... They all stuck to his mind, deepening the longing he had for her. His face contorted as he realized how the control over his own body and reactions had been gradually taken away from him. The memories played on even though he would not have cared at all in any other situation. Looking at her now, he could trace all those things on her cream-white skin, on the raven-black locks of her hair and the steady rise and fall of her chest.

Cole shook his head and sat carefully on the edge of the bed beside her. The effects of the curse had gotten stronger and stronger. _She's unconscious, this isn't supposed to be happening. _He should've done it before, when he was still more in control of himself. Who knew the effects of the curse would also backfire on him? It was like this gut feeling deep inside that stopped him from doing her any harm. You were fighting against your own body, which was something oxymoronic from the very start. His human side had been so weak and corrupted before that it had never been a problem for him. But now that it was as strong as his demonic side, the struggle wanted him to split in half almost literally. And it wasn't just his body, but his mind as well. These... _feelings. _Something that wasn't there before. It was now gnawing at him from inside, and it was all because of the stupid curse. There was only one word to describe this: _Agonizing._

Taking a shaky deep breath, he closed his eyes. If he was going to kill her, he wasn't going to watch. The athame was in his fist, the grip so tight the capillaries in his hand were slightly bulging out.

_One fast motion and it will all be over._

His hand rose slowly into the air, shaking violently. He needed to count in his head.

_One..._

He could do this. He _had_ to do this.

_Two..._

His hand pulled back slightly taking momentum.

_Three._

Milliseconds before the sharp weapon in his hand came down like the flash of lightning, he opened his eyes to watch the athame sink through softness. He felt a sense of helplessness, of inevitability and it pained him.

He had missed.

Within a few centimetres of her porcelain neck. The blade buried by her thick hair, stabbing through the pillow instead. His head sank. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill her.

The action had brought their faces closer together, and guided by the same sense of inevitability he had felt a few moments ago, he leaned in and let go. He let himself be defeated. By what? By whom? He didn't know. Right now he didn't care. He kissed her, and the feel of her lips brought such a sense of calm to his soul it was surreal. It was a healing balm. All the pain and desperation went away, and the deep aching in his chest lifted was replaced by a sense of fulfilment as his lips grazed hers. Their warmth reached the very depths of his soul.

He couldn't kill Prue Halliwell.

And as sudden as the feeling of happiness filled him, the sensation of anguish took over. The realization of what he had done shook him with such a force that he let out a terrible scream, the body of Belthazor materializing over Cole's. He had just betrayed _everything_ he believed in. His very being was based on this, on the capability of being evil, of killing without batting an eyelid. And for what? A _witch. _A single harmless _witch_, who would not have stood a chance if she had battled him face to face in any other situation. It had been right in front of him! And he had let the opportunity pass. Another type of feeling began to build up inside of him. This one greater than any others before it. It was pure fury. Raging fury for these three witches who had ruined him, and particularly this witch in front of him, sleeping peacefully unaware of anything and everything she had done. But more importantly, fury aimed at himself, for letting _her _ruin _him._

Taking the athame from the pillow, he prepared himself to plunge the blade into her heart, this time definitely not going to miss. His hand had thrown itself back when the door opened.

"Oh my god, Piper! Demon!" he heard the voice of Phoebe scream. Piper, reacting instinctively used her hands to freeze him. Her powers came over him and slowed him down for a bit, but he shook the freeze off. He had just been interrupted, _again._ He wasn't ready to take the two witches on together while they were still strong, so there was only one other option. He blinked.

"LEO!" screamed Piper. The glowing sky blue orbs materialized into her boyfriend.

"What, what happened?" asked Leo concerned.

"Yeah, what happened?" asked another person by the door. It was Cole. "I went to use the bathroom, when I heard a scream..."

"There was a-a..." Phoebe stammered. _Think fast Phoebe, think fast!_ "A... a _huge_ rat." she finally answered. _Seriously, a rat?_

"...a _rat_?" repeated Leo and Cole, both sounding unconvinced.

"Yes, a _rat_." Piper said, her eyes trying to say to Leo the word they couldn't mention in the presence of Cole. "You _know?_ Those huge ones that are _very, very dangerous?_ Almost _lethal?"_

"Ooh..." Leo said, catching on. "But... How?"

"I don't know! But it was right beside Prue, and it was about to...!" Piper continued, her voice raising a few notches up.

"We'll worry about how later! What I wanna know is why did you guys leave Prue alone?" demanded Phoebe in an accusatory tone.

"Sorry, that was my fault," interrupted Cole. "Leo had to go check on something important, and I was supposed to stay here. Except I needed to use your bathroom. I'm sorry..."

"It's alright Cole..." Piper answered, glaring more at Leo, the look telling the Whitelighter that he would be further questioned to see if his reason for leaving was justifiable enough.

Phoebe went to Cole's side. "It's alright... We were just, caught off guard, that's all. Are you okay?" she asked him.

Cole cleared his throat. It seemed his face still showed some signs of his struggle earlier. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just worried..."

"Maybe you should go... I think we might've messed up your schedule enough for the day." Phoebe told him.

"If you don't mind. Are you guys going to be okay?" he asked, half in concern and half to take off any suspicion on him.

"Yeah, we'll be alright," Piper said, gesturing to a vial on her hand. "Got her medicine right here."

Cole eyed the pink liquid inside. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was going to be useless. She was already cured. All thanks to him, unfortunately. He looked at the still unconscious Prue in her bed. "In that case then, I'm leaving."

He gave Phoebe a kiss on the cheek, and gave a final nod to Piper and Leo before going out the door.

There would be much explaining to do.

**A/N: **_Dun dun dun... And now for the hour of judgment. Hate it? Love it? Do not care? Tell me! Or I shall feel sad. And you don't want me to feel sad. No you don't. ^_^ So review!_


	7. Confused Traps

**A/N:** _Guess what, people? After almost two years of not updating, I'M BACK! Yup! Should I even explain? I guess I should. To those who bother to read these, I just finished my Uni studies and will be graduating soon! I deluded myself thinking I could both keep up with my essays and write this fic. I was clearly wrong. In the end, RL won and this had to take a back seat. BUT, now I'm free of Uni and all its inspiration-draining torture essays! _

_Before I proceed, I just wanna thank all the people who reviewed this. I would wanna mention all of you one by one, but this Author's Note would be epically long if I did. If it hadn't for you guys, and me re-reading all 53 messages of encouragement a couple of days ago, I honestly wouldn't have found fresh inspiration to keep writing this again. So a **HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU GUYS WHO REVIEWED THIS.** I swear, you guys keep me writing. :)_

_I'll explain a bit of this Chapter though. This is a sort of combination of Sight Unseen and Primrose Empath, tying it together with the episode I inserted on the last two chapters. This chapter will only tackle half of Primrose Empath though, but don't worry, the next part will be coming along soon. I've written half of it already as I type this. Anyway, that should be enough make this make sense. Onwards my dear readers!_

**DISCLAIMER:** _Don't own anything. Except my laptop. And the twisted idea of making a love triangle between these three people. _

**Chapter 7 - Confused Traps**

_**Today's a winding road  
**__**that's taking me to places I didn't want to go  
**__**Today in the blink of an eye  
**__**I'm holding onto something but I do not know why**_

_**I try, I try to read between the lines  
**__**I try to look in your eyes  
**__**I want a simple explanation for what I'm feeling inside  
**__**I wanna find a way out, maybe there's a way out**_

**- Thunder (Boys Like Girls)**

Prue sat down on the old armchair in the attic. So many things seemed to have happened these past couple of weeks. So many things that were only coming to sense now. Looking through the diagram of evil possibilities she had made a couple of days ago, she felt a sense of both fulfilment and dread when she finally put the Triad at the centre of everything and two names around it: Troxa and Belthazor. She knew she had crossed the line with the demon cage, but it had served its purpose well.

_"You'll get nothing from me, witch," the demon said inside the trap. _

_Prue set the last crystal back into place and the cage zapped him within. Nothing like a little pain to help along their conversation. After a couple of seconds, she pulled it away to let him speak. He would be of no use if she ended up killing him. Sometimes she scared herself at how ruthless she could be._

_Gasping from the pain, the demon finally spoke. "I am Troxa. I'm not the only agent the triad has sent after you. There is another. His name is Belthazor."_

Belthazor. That name had led them to the rather ugly picture of another more powerful and terrifying demon. His head was completely red, with black tribal markings around his scalp, black empty eyes and terrible teeth. He looked like one of those evil aliens from Star Wars. She wouldn't be surprised if he sounded like Darth Vader too. According to Leo he was one of the most dangerous and cunning demons around. The Book of Shadows didn't do much to try and pacify their fears:

**Belthazor**

_Beware of this Demonic Soldier of Fortune.  
Both powerful and dangerous, he has destroyed countless  
witches, innocents and demons.  
__  
As sinister as he is intelligent, he is not to be trusted  
__Belthazor's known abilities include  
throwing energy balls and shimmering from place to place,  
but his powers are probably not limited to these capabilities._

_Because there is no known way to defeat him,_  
_Belthazor should be avoided at all costs._

The last few lines haunted her. When even the Book of Shadows, written by the longest line of witches in their history, could not give you an answer, there was much reason to be paranoid and fearful.

Everything linked up together now. Despite the fairy dust, she and Phoebe still remembered the demon they saw trying to steal the Book. Piper and Phoebe's description of the demon who had come into her room was the exact same one. And now, they had finally found a name for it. If anything, she could also safely assume that the Triad's attempt to wipe out their ancestral line in Halloween must've had Belthazor behind it too. _But then, why is everything still so confusing? _The demon explained everything, but there were still so many loose ends. Who would open all those windows and turn the air conditioning on when Troxa had tried to kill them? The person must've known cold temperatures were his weakness. Leo said it hadn't been him… So did they have another guardian angel somewhere?

What about that kissing curse? Belthazor had been behind it obviously and her sisters had made her drink a purifying potion, but the Book of Shadows had said the only cure was to either be kissed by the perpetrator or killing him. Looking at his illustration in the book and seeing his teeth, she concluded _any _type of contact with him, in lip lock or otherwise would prove to be disgusting. _Seriously, if I were that powerful, I would consider some serious plastic surgery._

Ironically, a pang of pain shot from her mouth and into her brain at the thought. _Dammit, not now. I need to concentrate. _Grimacing from the pain and putting her hand to her cheek, she had decidedly ignored the toothache for days now, determined not to let it interrupt her mulling over the events. There were just too many loose ends for her to just simply ignore and a toothache was just not one of those priorities. The pain shot again and she tightened her jaw. _I don't need you right now. Go away._

Her will power seemed to work for the moment as she mentally willed the pain to subside to a mere throbbing at the back of her head. Putting away her notes, she picked up from where she had left off last night with her training.

One of the good uses of bookstores were that they sold any kind of book, even those of really bizarre subjects such as enhancing telepathic skills. Not that ordinary people would be having much use for it, but when it came into the hands of a powerful witch, they could actually serve their purpose well. Prue had managed to come up with the idea of teaching her astral projection how to fight. If she could mentally divide herself and throw her own persona out of her body, then she could probably mentally throw her power out of her body and transfer some of it to her astral projection right? Well that was her theory anyway. So far she hadn't succeeded.

Projecting herself into the kitchen, she stared down at the fork like a maniac, concentrating all of her will power to move it with her eyes, just like how she did it in her normal body. When that didn't work, she tried flicking the fork with her finger. It did not budge. Relaxing and trying a different manner, she tried doing it as fast as she could as if she was trying to surprise the fork into moving.

Nothing. Not even an inch.

"Look at me. I'm a fashion blunder. A mademoiselle don't!" said Phoebe, twirling haphazardly as she came into the kitchen trying to wrestle with the straps of her crème felt top on that looked like she borrowed from Pocahontas. Paired with a blue skirt, the ensemble echoed a sort of cowboy vs. Indian theme. She gasped when she saw her sister fail to flick a fork with her fingers. "Oh my god, you lost your powers?"

"Can't lose what you never had," answered Prue. Her body shimmered and disappeared.

"I hate it when she plays astral games," Phoebe muttered. "MARCO!" she yelled into the house.

"POLO!" came Prue's faded yell from the attic.

When Phoebe reached the top of the stairs, she found Prue already sitting at the divan pouring through a book. "What were you doing down there?"

"Practicing. Trying to use my telekinetic powers in astral mode," Prue answered, never taking her eyes off the pages.

The younger sister came around to look at what she was reading. "Hrmm, witch exercises. Since when?"

"Since I studied up on Belthazor. The Triad couldn't have sent us a worse demon."

"Or one with worse skin," Phoebe commented, looking at the illustration in the Book of Shadows. "I would hate to find myself alone with this guy."

"I know, right?" Prue assented. "But yeah. You wouldn't last long. None of us would, actually. That's why I'm trying to teach my astral self how to fight."

Walking around, Phoebe flopped herself on the vintage armchair beside Prue's. "I have a date with Cole," she sighed.

The older witch looked at her, puzzled. "You say that like it's a bad thing…"

"It's a lunch date," Phoebe quipped.

Prue arched an eyebrow. "So?" _That's the problem? Having lunch? _

"So it's not a good sign! Lunch is a cheap imitation of dinner. That's why it has it's own special menu, " Phoebe complained. "And, you know, we kissed last week. We should be onto dinner and candlelight by now!"

_Oh yeah, that's right. They kissed._ Prue then remembered Cole and the slight misfortune of him getting caught on the same trap as Troxa. Piper had seen him first.

"_Cole?" said Piper. _

"_What?" Phoebe pushed her way in. Prue followed, holding her younger sister back. Cole? Prue mused. It couldn't be. Why him? He couldn't be a demon, could he?_

"_Wait, it could be dangerous."_

"_For god's sakes, Prue, he looks really hurt," said Phoebe closing into the unconscious Cole._

"_Phoebe, it's a trap for demons. You do the math!" she answered. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, him getting caught made him a suspect. After so many things, she had to think logically and not emotionally. Not that she would ever admit there were any emotions there. Somehow she felt compelled to deny the scene that was laying out before her and to suppress the urge to take Phoebe's place around the cage. _

_Phoebe paid her no heed and she knelt beside Cole resting his head on her lap. Prue removed one of the peridite crystals to deactivate the cage. "What are you doing here?" asked Prue the second he regained consciousness. Her sisterly responsibility started kicking in._

"_I came by to see how you were doing," he answered, sitting up._

"_Are you okay?" asked Phoebe concerned._

"_So how did you get in and what are you doing up here?" interrupted Prue before he could answer the previous question._

"_Front door was unlocked and when I saw the windows were open…" he said, thinking fast._

_Phoebe finished the sentence for him. "You thought that someone broke into the house again," she said defending him. Phoebe gave Prue a look. "Third degree over now?"_

"_What happened? What's that?" asked Cole._

"_Uhh…" Piper tried to answer. Looking nervously at Leo, she realized she really couldn't explain what it was._

"_It's a trap," said Prue without missing a beat. She was in a challenging mood that night._

_Cole looked at her in the most surprised way he could. He genuinely was surprised. They were smarter than he thought. "A what?"_

"_A trap. I set it up to catch intruders," Prue emphasized the last word, looking at him accusingly. Seriously, if he were human, he wouldn't have gotten caught right? The Book had said it was specifically for demons._

_At that, Cole started walking out of the Manor, Phoebe following him closely behind. He did something good, and this was what he got for protecting them from Troxa. A trap._

"_Cole, I am so sorry! Please forgive us," Phoebe said as they went down the stairs._

"_I'll take that under advisement," said Cole without even turning around._

_Phoebe tried to pacify him. He was clearly pissed. "Prue just panicked! She wasn't thinking straight!"_

"_The hell I wasn't," protested Prue. I'm the only here thinking straight. He's a suspect._

"_Do you know that your trap is the equivalent of having a loaded shot gun with a trip wire behind your front door?" he said turning around, not being able to control his raising voice. "That's illegal. I'm an ADA, and officer of the court. I could have you arrested."_

_Behind them, Piper mused another good point. "Somebody turned on the air conditioning. Why would they do that?"_

Cole had left after that. Okay, she would have to admit that the trap may have been a little dangerous, but the Book _had _said it was a trap for demons. That's why she had included Cole's name into her list of evil possibilities. She hadn't still quite explained how he had managed to set the trap off. It all of course was still very suspicious. _It wasn't my fault the perv had been nosing around the house._ Phoebe had still been a little irked about her prospective boyfriend getting caught in one of her older sister's obsessive phases and had asked Prue to apologize to him, remembering their discussion the other week.

_Phoebe was indignant. "How could you? How far are you gonna let this obsession go, Prue?" she demanded after saying goodbye to Cole._

_Prue tried reasoning with her. There really was a high chance for Cole to be someone he was not. It's not like it hadn't happened before. "Phoebe, listen…"_

"_No, I'm not gonna listen, Prue," she interrupted her. "You didn't nearly catch a demon, you nearly killed a district attorney. _My _district attorney."_

_He was _hers _now. This clearly wasn't just infatuation anymore. This had gotten bad. And it would get worse if he turned out to be evil. "How do you know we didn't catch a demon? I mean, think about it, Phoebe. He is always around when something is going on. I mean, look at tonight. And that time when I got sucked into that alleyway! He was there too!"_

"_You're right," she said with much disdain in her voice. The kind that told you that despite her words, she really wasn't agreeing with her. "He's a plant, trying to get close to me so he can kill us. Now is everyone a demon Prue? You are crazy right now."_

Yes, she may have been a little too paranoid then. After all, it was Abbey, a human being, and not Troxa who had tried to kill her last time.

Everything was just so confusing though. Too many things to think about. On the one hand, she may not have proof yet, but Cole was definitely someone she'd have to look out for. Her instincts told her he was hiding something. Exactly what that was, she didn't know, but she would definitely have to find out. On the other hand, those eyes and that heated argument with him when he came over to question her kinda lingered at the back of her mind. Shots of frisson running up and down the back of her spine. _Don't Prue. He's Phoebe's. _

Phoebe. It wouldn't do good to any of them if she dwelt on those thoughts. With everything that had happened, she had almost become a full-time witch. She hadn't thought about anything remotely romantic for the past month or so. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been thoroughly kissed without demonic intervention. This 'attraction' was obviously just her being deprived. Yes. Deprived. Besides, Phoebe and her had done so well in getting along with each other for these past two years. She wasn't about to ruin it all again by getting attracted to her boyfriend, or be unreasonable to him if he ended up turning out to be a good guy. And that is why she would have to apologize.

"Prue?" asked Phoebe, interrupting her reverie. She had gotten lost in her mash of thoughts again.

"Huh? Oh right, sorry. Got distracted. Lunch date, yes? Well mayb- OW!" she yelped in pain. Her teeth were at it again.

"I can't believe you haven't taken care of that tooth!" Phoebe exclaimed, chastising her.

"Yeah, well I have a dentist appointment in an hour," she answered as she rubbed her cheek.

"Good. I hate to see you so miserable."

"I know. Me too," Prue answered. "I might as well go see Cole on the way then. I still haven't apologized to him for that unfortunate incident," she admitted, giving Phoebe a sheepish smile.

"Oh right. Thank you. I know you don't like him, but that means a lot to me," Phoebe looked at her gratefully.

"Hey, so long as he doesn't sprout red skin and tribal markings all over his face, he'll be given the benefit of doubt."

* * *

The day was only beginning and he had already started mentally telling himself off for his sets of failures. Taking the shaver, he paused at his reflection in the mirror and started gliding the blades across his jaw.

_I cannot risk getting physically close to her again,_ Cole mused.

That had been his downfall last time. The fact that he had chosen a curse that affected himself as well, in his arrogance at the thought that he'd be able to control his human self by overpowering it with his demonic side… He would not make such a stupid mistake again. The Triad had not been kind at his failure, but had decided to give him another chance. They knew the potency of that curse and had warned him about it. He had succeeded for the most part and they had watched expectantly. His failure with the kiss had been observed, and had reaped its consequences.

Instead of a physical pain, he had gotten 'assistance' as a punishment, which to him might as well have been torture. Such a critical blow only meant that the Triad did not trust him to be able to do the job alone anymore. Maybe he couldn't, but he had not been ready to admit that to himself yet. At least that's what he argued to himself when he helped the witches expose him by opening all of those windows and creating the coldest environment in the house as possible. His human side, the part of him that he seemed to be less in control of, argued that Troxa was dangerous. _Too _dangerous. But of course, that weaker side of him could hardly matter.

_That little witch. _His eyes narrowed with anger at his reflection in the mirror. Prue had set that trap and, though clever, he had been _this _close to getting caught. Thank goodness Phoebe was there to defend him. His feelings mixed with the anger at the fact that _she _had caught him. She really was a formidable witch; at least much more powerful than her sisters, that was for sure. And that was why he had to eliminate her first. He could not afford to keep her alive.

Turning on the tap, he cupped his hands under the flowing water and rinsed his face off, grabbing a towel beside the sink to dry it. That was when he heard a knock on his door.

Wrapping a towel around his waist, he proceeded to answer.. He wasn't expecting anyone. He was supposed to be meeting Phoebe at their house not his, and that wasn't until lunch. It was only ten-thirty after all... She couldn't have been that excited, could she? Opening the door, he was clearly thinking of the wrong sister.

"Uh, hi…" said the woman standing in front of him. She seemed to be surprised to see him. And then he remembered he was only wearing a towel. He grinned. "May I come in?"

It was Prue Halliwell. _Well so much for trying not to be physically close to her. _

"Um, sure," he said standing aside to let her pass, keeping a hand on his towel. "So long as you don't have any taser guns hidden inside your purse."

She looked at him, pointedly, letting the comment go. He was still clearly resentful for the piridite cage. Prue passed as quickly as possible, trying not to breathe in the all-too-familiar aftershave, fresh from the bathroom. Nevermind his partially naked, well-built, glistening body. No matter how much she stared down at the floor, she would not be able to erase the image burned into her retina anyway. She just hoped that he hadn't noticed her eyes going wide at the shock.

"Do you always like to greet your guests half-naked?" she asked him as she walked into the apartment.

"Only when they're female," he shot back. _Where the hell did that line come from? _He berated himself. He wasn't supposed to be flirting with her. She just narrowed her eyes at him, which he took upon as a sign to put more layers of clothing on. "I'll be right back."

Prue stayed in the sala. Looking around, it seemed like one of those typical guy apartments. The wallpaper was a shade of blue-grey and everything had a masculine air to it, from the lighting down to the black leather couches.

Cole came back into the living room, dressed in a robe. "In my defence, I wasn't expecting anyone. So… What are you doing here? Not satisfied with frying me unconscious?" he asked her, leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed.

"I came here to…" she paused. It was actually harder to say it. "… apologize."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. _Prue Halliwell. Apologizing. This should be good. _"Really now?" he taunted with sarcasm. "What in the world for?"

_You're doing this for Phoebe. You're doing this for Phoebe. You're doing this for Phoebe. _She chanted in her head, trying to keep her temper in check. The prat knew exactly what for. He was just obviously trying to make this much more difficult than it was supposed to.

Swallowing, she calmed herself. "For… For putting you inside that electrical cage," she muttered in a low voice.

"Huh. Well, given that you're in an apologetic mood, I might as well ask you to apologize for throwing me against the wall in P3," he said, looking expectantly at her to mouth her apology.

"Urgh. Fine. I'm sorry for pushing you that time at the night club…" she conceded half-heartedly. "If you weren't such a prissy though, there'd be no problem…" she added, in an almost unintelligible whisper.

"What was that…?" he asked, hearing her muttering.

She whipped her head in his direction, to look at him. "Nothing. Just saying what a prissy you are for a tiny push," she answered mockingly.

"Do you always apologize like this? Because I have got to tell you, you suck at it," he replied amused. "I don't accept your apology. You obviously don't mean it." He knew It was childish, and that he was pushing her boundaries but it was just too much fun not to.

Prue gaped at him. He could not possibly be playing this game with her. Here she was lowering her pride at him and apologizing for things that, in fact, had complete moral justification and needed no apology whatsoever in her head, and he had the guts to _not accept? _

"Well, given that the things I did were completely justified, I really don't see the point in me apologizing. I'm only doing this for Phoebe's sake," she countered.

"_Justified? _I don't think any type of justification would work in court for harbouring illegal and mortally dangerous devices within your household without a permit," he argued. "Actually, you should even be thanking _me_."

The witch stared at him incredulous. "Thanking _you_? What the hell for?"

"Well, for not reporting you to the police for one. For fending off that perv who really _was _trying to take your top off. For finding you in that alley way unconscious, doing who-knows-what. For caring enough to check on you guys and discovering all of those windows and doors open… The list just keeps on going."

"Yeah, well then sure whatever. Thank _you,_" she said in the most sarcastic voice she could muster, "But I think my sisters and I can take care of ourselves well enough without your help."

"Well, if setting lethal traps into your home is called 'taking care' of them…"

"Can't you just get over that? Seriously, it's not like you died!"

_No, I almost did._ "You would think you'd give me a little credit for caring," he said.

She looked pointedly at him. "Why would you care so much?"

_Because I care about you._ He got taken aback, though he wasn't too sure whether it was because of the question or his subconscious answer. "Because I care about Phoebe," he answered, trying not to miss a beat.

Prue's older sister protectiveness kicked in and she stood up from the couch, despite the light sinking feeling she got in the pit of her stomach. _What were you expecting? A declaration?_ "Don't hurt her," she warned him in her most threatening voice, the height difference emphasizing her words. If he did, she would kill him. Powers or no powers.

"I won't," he stood as well, gaining a couple of inches taller than her, meeting her eyes and countering her intimidation attempts.

She stepped outside from the living room area and headed for the door. Before opening the door, she paused and looked behind her. "I'm sorry for putting you in that cage.. But I won't be as sorry if you do anything to hurt her."

She meant it. She would have to put aside her feelings as well as Phoebe's to vanquish him. It was their safety that she would have to place above all things. With that, she left.

* * *

Trying not to get distracted on the way to the dentist had not been hard. That was until all those signs dropped all over the place and she finally found herself inside a building about to be demolished. Clearly, there was an innocent in need of help.

Knocking on the door, she heard no answer. Twisting the doorknob, she managed to open it as far as the chain would let her.

"Hello?" she called into the room.

"Close the door! Go away!" a voice inside exclaimed.

"I just wanna talk…" she answered.

"Please…" he pleaded. He sounded like he was in pain. "Go _away_!" he cried.

His cry only made Prue more determined. Closing the door again, she flicked her fingers and unhooked the chain through the wood. Entering, she found the guy struggling to get away from her as far as possible.

"No! No! Don't! Don't come any closer!" he said hiding curled up in a corner.

It was all very strange. "Are you hurt?"

"My h-head!" he said in a pained voice, slapping his forehead with his palms. "I-It's exploding! The pain… you just- you're letting it in!" he said in between gasps.

"What pain?"

"_Everyone's_ pain! From the city… The streets… I f-feel- I feel all of it!" he exclaimed.

Prue stepped nearer to him, slowly. "I won't hurt you…" she tried to calm him.

"But you _are _hurting me!" he said, finally facing her. His face was all contorted, as if he were being burnt alive. "Your _pity_! It's like… _razors_ inside!"

"Please… I can-" she said, stepping closer.

"Ohhh! Your tooth!" he gasped, doubling over and grasping his jaw. It was like he felt everything twice as much as she did. "Oh your pain! I _can't stand it_!" he cried out. "Why didn't you just go when I asked?"

* * *

"I just can't believe you introduced me as a _friend._"

Clearly, Leo wasn't gonna let this one go. He and Piper had just come back from some errands for P3 when they ran into Sarah, a former college friend. Piper had panicked halfway into the conversation, after _Sarah_, as she liked to say inside her head, had talked endlessly about her husband and how happily married they were. She ended up introducing Leo as a good friend of hers.

"Okay, social malfunction! I hadn't seen the woman in years! I-I'm sorry!" she answered.

"I lost my wings for you! I hurled my body onto incoming demons for you! You wanted heaven, I took you there. Literally." Leo argued. "I'm more than a _friend._"

"I know, but if I had introduced you as my fiancé, she would've asked how we met, when were we getting married, where the hell my ring is… Questions that I can't answer now, can I?"

"I suppose that's how I became a doctor too," he said.

"Leo, that's what you _were,_" Piper answered referring to his past life. "Look, what am I supposed to tell people? That I'm engaged to a Whitelighter? Sometimes being magical kinda takes the magic right out of things."

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way," he said.

"Oh come on! Don't _you_ sometimes?" she asked. "Every now and then I just wanna know what it's like to live in the _real _world."

Prue parked in front of the house, just as another car came in behind her. It was Cole. She was about to accuse him of following her, when she realized he was there for his lunch date with Phoebe. Rolling her eyes when he smiled at her, she opened the door into the Manor and went in. She found Leo and Piper in the living room.

"Hey," she greeted them unenthusiastically.

Piper turned around to see Cole behind her. "What are you two doing together?" asked Piper. She knew about Prue's dislike for the guy. It was bizarre seeing them both in one place willingly.

"Ah. Cole pulled up behind me," Prue explained. By the sound of her voice, she hadn't forgotten about their conversation earlier that morning.

Cole smiled sheepishly, trying to ease the tension. "Good timing…" he said awkwardly smiling. He was met by Prue's un-amused stare.

"Look! It's my lunch date!" Phoebe said, coming in from the corridor.

"Sorry I'm late, got held up in a case." Cole apologized. Taking a look at Phoebe and holding her hands, he presented the due compliment. "You look… amazing!"

"It's all part of my master plan," joked Phoebe.

Prue interrupted their gooey flirting. "Uh, Phoebe, I wanted to talk to you about the signs…" she stopped herself, noticing Cole in front of her. "… uh, the _assignment_ that we were talking about in the phone."

"Where did it lead?" she asked.

"To this incredibly tragic guy who's scared to leave his own home, which might be okay, if it weren't about to be torn down," Prue answered.

"Was there a social worker there?" Cole asked.

"No, but I was told that a deputy was going there this afternoon to aid the victim and he has no place to go," she explained.

"Let me, um…" said Cole, feeling his pockets for a phone. "Let me make a call, see what I can…"

"Kitchen," intercepted Piper.

"Thank you," he nodded, heading for the corridor.

* * *

Finding the phone in the kitchen, he started to form the number he was going to dial in his head. Prue had obediently followed the signs, and like a good witch, she had assumed he was an innocent. If Vinceres could feel, he would've been ecstatic. Dialling the number, he saw his shadow move.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah… Where are _you _going?" he asked his shadow. His shadow stood there separate from his body, placing his hands on his waist, silently complaining. "There will be no more Triad reports. Not until my plan succeeds. I cannot be associated with any more failed attempts… Phoebe!"

"Hey!" Phoebe walked in straight into the kitchen and in between Cole and his shadow in the wall. "I just need some aspirin. Prue has a toothache.

Cole stood tense, hoping that she would not notice anything wrong, as she went to the fridge. "…water" she said, mindlessly continuing her errands and smiled at him. "You okay?" giving him a kiss.

"Uh, yeah. Just got disconnected," he said as she left the room. Making sure she was out of earshot, he continued talking to his shadow. "Prue followed my signs. The plan will work. If it doesn't, _then _you can rat me out to the Triad."

The shadow dejectedly went back to its place.

* * *

"Based on everything you said Prue, it sounds like your shut-in is a future empath," said Leo.

"An empath… And me without my dictionary," said Piper.

Phoebe came in with Prue's aspirin as Leo explained. "They're mortals who can actually feel what other people feel. It's a rare gift. When they die, they often return to earth as empaths, where they blend into society as counsellors, elders, teachers… They use their sensitivity to guide mortals, ease their pain… Even heal them."

"I don't think this guy would look at it as a gift," Prue said as she remembered the guy's tortured expression. "He's one big, raw nerve-ending. You should've seen how he reacted to my toothache."

"Well it could be that he's rejecting his gift," Leo answered. "Fighting the emotions instead of embracing them."

"Well… It sure sounds like an innocent to me…" added Piper.

Leo agreed. "It'd be a shame to lose a future empath, with all the good he'll do."

"I care less about his afterlife than his current one," interjected Prue. "I know what it's like to receive a power that you do _not_ understand."

"What I don't understand is who sent the signs that you followed," asked Phoebe. That was a good question.

"It's hard to say… Could be them, could be…"

"Cole," whispered Piper, signalling the momentary end of their discussion. They heard his footsteps on the hallway.

He entered, writing on a piece of paper. "I've got a guy in Housing Authority who will relocate your shut-in if he leaves voluntarily. Here's my card, you can page me."

"Thanks," said Prue, though not exactly grateful at taking in his help, useful as it was. She took her jacket, ready to leave. "Alright."

"Uh, Prue, do you want us to go with you?" asked Piper.

"Uh no. This guy can barely deal with one person, let alone three… But thank you."

Cole and Phoebe got ready to leave as well. "Okay then! Ready for lunch?" he asked Phoebe. She answered with a good nod, took her coat and got stood up to go, Cole's arm instinctively guiding her.

Leo stood up and answered Cole's rhetorical question. "Lunch would be great! Do you mind if we join ya?" he said, to Cole and Phoebe's surprise. "I mean, it'd be great! Two couples… In the town, in the _real _world," he added for Piper's benefit.

Piper gave him a look. _Leo, what the hell are you doing?_ In reply, he looked expectantly at her and in the end she just smiled, commending his efforts to make up for their faux pas earlier on.

The other couple paused. "It's up to you…" Cole said.

"Why not?" Phoebe gave her sister a happy slash 'Why are you doing this?' smile. Piper just looked at Leo's goofy smile. She would have to tell him later about not crashing into other sisters' dates. She just hoped it wouldn't be too awkward or that Phoebe would eventually forgive her.

* * *

The police officer would just _not _let her in. "I'm sorry, ma'm. I know he's scared, but I personally handed him a final eviction notice two weeks ago."

"Officer, please," she tried to reason. For as much as she disliked Cole, she needed to help the innocent first. Taking the card that he'd given her, she showed it to the officer. "Cole Turner, Assistant District Attorney. He knows the case and he wants to help, but only if I can keep this guy out of jail."

The Deputy Officer looked at the card. "You've got three minutes."

Prue ran to the room as fast as she could, finding Vince sitting on top of a mattress, knees drawn to his body rocking himself.

"Hey, it's me again, Prue. Took a pain reliever for my tooth…" she greeted him. There was no answer. "The Deputy downstairs told me your name was Vince. What's your last name?"

"Misery," he answered.

"In that case, would you like some company?" she joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

Vince looked at her, not sharing the amusement. "That's not funny."

"Yeah… And neither is your situation." Prue nodded, realizing this was not the time to make jokes. "Vince, you know that Deputy is here to arrest you for civil disobedience?"

"I'll die if they put me in jail," he answered.

She knelt down beside him. "I believe you," she answered. Vince looked at her, recognizing her sincerity. "That's why I came back, to find you a new home. But you have to leave here with me now."

"I can't… I can't go outside," he said, proceeding to rock himself in place.

"Vince, I know what it's like. I know what it's like to have a gift that you can't control, that you never asked for," she tried sympathizing with him. "And living with that is hard, really hard."

"Don't tell me what's hard," he countered her. "You avoided your pain and I feel it."

She got taken aback by his comment. _How does he know about…?_ And then she remembered he could read every single emotion inside of her. It was sort of unnerving. She'd have to try a different tactic.

"Right… Then let's talk about the blessings. Three words that come with having that gift. I mean, you can't even begin to…"

Vince stood up and walked away from her. "Words… Just _empty _words! You don't _feel _them in your heart, I know," he said. "You feel fear, panic… 'Cause something's coming for you, something you're afraid you can't stop. Are these the blessings you want me to be thankful for?"

Prue didn't know what to do. He had basically laid out all of her fears and emotions wide open and she couldn't even argue with him because they were all true. She _really _was afraid. There was no point denying it. She was deathly afraid that she wouldn't be able to protect her sisters from harm. It was what kept her up at night and so determined at day. She wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to her sisters. The thoughts brought tears to her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Vince looked at her helplessness. "Yes, you are. You are sorry. And confused and afraid… and it's drowning me alive," he said, with each word emulating her emotions inside of him.

The Deputy banged at the door. "Time's up! Open the door!"

"Can't you see this is _not _a gift? This is a curse, I am _cursed. _To feel _everything_ all the time from _everyone._ I can't go outside that door. Not now, not ever."

"I'm coming in!" the Deputy said, forcing the door open. Vince ducked bracing himself for the bout of pain of feeling two people inside a room.

Prue raised up her hand coming closer to him and held the door closed with her power. The Deputy wrestled against it when it shut up on him again half way through.

Vince looked at what she was doing, surprised. "How'd you do that?"

"I was sent here to help you and that's what I'm going to do," she said ignoring his question. Closing her eyes, she began to recite the spell she had found earlier.

_Free the empath, release his gift  
__Let his pain be cast adrift._

While she recited, Vince took her hand and made contact. As she finished casting, he felt the empathy cancer flow out of him and into her, sighing in relief. With that, Prue released her hold on the door and the Deputy stumbled inside.

"What the hell's the matter with you people?" he asked the pair in front of him.

"Sorry Deputy… That door stuck on me too," answered Prue. "He's ready now."

Vince still looked incredulous. He could not believe his pain was gone. "But how..?"

"We'll talk later," she smiled. "Um, this is the D.A." she handed him the card. "Page him. He'll find a place for you to go."

"Thank you," said Vince. "You don't know what you just did for me."

And he was right. Prue had no idea what exactly she had done for him.

**A/N:** _SO! Am I rusty? Is this crap? Should I go hang myself? Please tell me! You know how much I love getting reviews for this! I hope I haven't lost your guys' interest after all these years! :)_


	8. Do You Feel What I Feel?

**A/N:** _Ooh, yuss! See? I didn't take so long this time! One thing you might notice in this story is that the scroll bar just gets tinier and tinier with every chapter. The word count for this one is around 8,000. Yup. 8,000 words. And guess what? For Chapters 7 and 6, it was 7,000 and 6,000 respectively. XD I dunno. Just pointing it out._

_By the way, I need you guys to read the Author's Note at the bottom of the page after you finish the story! It's kind of important since it will affect the next few chapters directly, namely _Power Outage _and _Sleuthing with the Enemy._ As you can tell, those are EPIC episodes in this season. Anyway, off you go!_

**DISCLAIMER:**_ Own nothing. No money. I'm poor. Although, I _do_ like Demi Lovato's song okay? It applied to this chapter a lot. Don't judge me. XD_

**Chapter 8 - Do You Feel What I Feel?**

_**As the smoke clears, I awaken  
**__**And untangle you from me  
**__**Would it make you feel better  
**__**To watch me while I bleed?  
**__**All my windows are still broken  
**__**But I'm standing on my feet.**_

_**You can take everything I have  
**__**You can break everything I am  
**__**Like I'm made of glass, like I'm made of paper  
**__**Go on and try to tear me down  
**__**I will be rising from the ground  
**__**Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper.**_

**- Skyscraper (Demi Lovato)**

He couldn't stop thinking about her. She must've received Vince's curse by now, if she had followed through what she said she'd do. He almost didn't even need to doubt that part. She was good that way. Somehow, that was what was so weak about good people. You would always be able to predict what they were going to do because morality dictated them so. Being evil didn't have the same boundaries. The only rule was not to get killed.

With all these musings, he hadn't really known what had been going on during lunch. He had been vaguely aware of Leo and Piper in front of him, Piper sitting uncomfortably in her seat. Leo seemed oblivious to the other women's discomfort, or was just positively trying to shake off the awkwardness. Phoebe on his side was obviously pissed off. I mean, this _was _supposed to be an exclusive date… They weren't teenagers anymore to be 'group dating'. The small talk had been painful, all their conversational attempts falling flat. If awkwardness were a palpable entity, they would've drowned in it from the very moment Leo had invited himself and Piper to their date. From the questions that had been thrown around while he was lost in his own predicament, almost all of them were just pathetic. He had tried being polite enough to provide an answer or two so as to not be completely antisocial, but there really wasn't much a demon could talk about with two witches and a Whitelighter. _Well sure, there would be a lot to talk about, but most of our lines would probably be accompanied by some sort fire ball or vanquishing spell. _Whichever way, it was all very uninteresting when there were other things he could be preoccupying himself with.

If his plan worked, he would've sealed Prue's defeat. He felt a conflicting sense of satisfaction and dread at that thought. He _had _to hurt her for his sake, for his sanity's sake. He was a _demon_, for crying out loud! _Half-demon, actually,_ his logic protested. _Minor technicality_, his other side argued back. He paused, realizing that he was definitely starting to lose it. He was arguing with himself! _Dammit, this should be much simpler. I'm a _demon_. With a mission. I've killed countless of witches before. I've killed them all without batting an eyelid and even thoroughly enjoyed it. Why the hell does this have to be so fucking hard?_

His frustration must've shown in his face because Phoebe looked at him nervously. She had sat with a ram-rod straight back during the whole meal.

So…!" she said, catching their attention. Leo and Piper's faces revealed a somewhat expectant look asking for some saving conversation or anything to kill themselves with if it failed. "How about those 'niners?"

"What?" Cole asked, confused. _'Niners? What the hell are 'niners?_

"The 'niners… The forty-niners?" she asked. Cole just looked at her like she was from outer space. He had no idea what she was talking about. "The football team?"

Cole diverted his eyes to Leo to see if _he _knew what Phoebe was talking about.

"You don't… follow football…?" she asked. Cole shrugged, taking a sip of water. Phoebe just chuckled. "He isn't human."

Cole choked up on his glass of water at the comment, eyes wide. _How did she even..?_

"Whoah… You okay?" she asked him, patting his back as he coughed the water out of the wrong pipe.

He needed to get out of there. Joking or not, she had hit way too close to the truth for his own comfort. When he looked up, she saw the waitress and took the opportunity to call her out raising his hand. "Check!"

Phoebe looked at Piper, a little disappointment showing in her eyes. Piper understood immediately. The girl talk in the bathroom would be one tinted with tragedy, as the wreckage from the disaster that was this lunch date was great and vast. "We'll be right back," Phoebe said pulling the napkin off her lap.

Leo and Cole stood up as the sisters left, leaving the men in the table. Alone.

* * *

"Phoebe, I know you're upset Leo crashed your lunch date, but-" said Piper as they headed to the bathroom.

"No it's not that," Phoebe interrupted. "Cole is pulling away from me again, I can see it."

Piper arched an eyebrow. _She can see it? _"Premonition?"

"_Intuition,_" her little sister answered.

It _was _true, but Piper had dismissed it, thinking that was just the way he was. Slightly aloof. And to be honest, she hadn't really spent much time observing Cole. "Why do you think that would be?" she asked.

Opening the door to the women's bathroom, they pulled up their purses and checked their make-up. "I don't know. I think he's hiding something from me…" said Phoebe trailing off. "I just… I don't _know_."

"Hrmmm… Well, maybe he's married! Or he's gay." Piper joked, trying to lighten up her sister's mood. "_Or_ he could be an ugly as demon. Take your pick."

Phoebe was amused, but she glared at her sister anyway through the bathroom mirror. "Don't…" she protested. Then her eyes bulged out at a realization. "Wait. Do you think he could be _gay_?"

Piper laughed out loud. "Pheebs, I was kidding. He has more chances of being a demon than being gay… Of _that,_ I can assure you."

* * *

Sitting down, Leo checked if the girls were already out of sight before he proceeded to talk. "Look Cole, before the girls get back… I need to tell you something."

"What, do I have spinach in my teeth?" he said, grinning to bare them.

"Wha-? Oh no, no. It has to do with Phoebe," Leo said. _Oh so this is the big brother talk. Right. _"Um, I just feel very protective of her, we all do. You know, she's a sweetie. She's been through a lot… A lot of loss."

He knew. He'd read her file. "I sense that," he answered.

"Well, she's into you, I can tell," Leo continued. "Whatever your intentions are, I just want you to be straight with her, okay? I don't wanna see her get hurt."

Cole bit down the feeling of irony. Phoebe _would _get hurt, but not as much as Prue would after today. He settled for replying to the Whitelighter in front of him with as much irony as he could let on. "Heaven forbid."

For a moment, he saw a slight hesitation from Leo. His line had clearly hit home.

"Hey!" Phoebe called out coming back to the table. "What did we miss?"

Cole and Leo stood up again, pulling up their respective ladies' chairs behind them. "Oh, Leo was just giving me some… Investment advise," Cole answered.

At that moment, the blonde waitress came in to give them the check. Cole took it and leaned into the table, gesturing to Leo with the check on his cheek. "Why don't we split this?" suggested Cole to him.

Leo looked at him, not knowing what to do. He didn't carry anything, no wallet, no money. It was social details like these that just escaped him. It had been so long since he'd been 'alive' that he had just never really thought about bringing such things with him anymore. Besides, why would you even need money for when you lived in _Heaven_?

"Oh! Honey, did you forget your wallet again?" interrupted Piper, noticing the exchange.

Leo laughed, hiding his slight shame. "Guess so…"

Cole looked on as he paid for half the meal. He knew it was mean, shaming him like that in front of everyone knowing that Leo would not be able to pay for it, but hey! He was still a demon, and Leo was still at the opposite end of the spectrum. It just went to prove than at least the bad side could wine and dine their women better than Heaven itself. He could allow himself this little show of hubris, right?

His pager beeped. Pulling it out he read it in his head. _"You were right. She came."_

"I'll have to take this…" he said standing up. "Forgive me."

Going to the toilet, he shimmered into Vinceres' building.

* * *

"Belthazor," the other demon called him out by his name, sensing his presence in the room.

Cole looked down at the burnt body of a police officer. "Got your page."

"I owe you for sending me the witch," Vinceres said. "It went down just like you said. Thanks."

One demon thanking another. He would believe it if it weren't for the fact that demons didn't feel gratefulness. He would take it though, being the most he would ever get from an assassin.

"You made physical contact during the spell?" Cole asked.

Vinceres faced him as he packed a bag. "I could feel the empathic power pass out of me and right into her. How did you know that would happen?"

"That's how you got it isn't it?" he said. "How long does she have?" _I hope not long. I would rather she died immediately than suffer through twenty-four hours of pure torture._

"She's mortal. She won't be able to fight it like a demon can," Vinceres answered. Somehow, that didn't reassure Cole. Prue as stubborn as she was would put up a considerable fight. "I give her a day until the weight of human emotion crushes her. You'll enjoy watching it."

If only he could still say that statement was true, but he knew that when it came to her, that would never ever happen. He had already made the preparations. "I'll be out of town," he answered. "I don't need to see the other two suffer the loss of their sister."

Vinceres looked at him oddly. "Compassion. From, you Belthazor?" he asked. Cole mentally cursed and hit himself. It was moments like these that just showed how far gone he really was. "I think maybe you've been undercover a little too long."

Maybe he had. If he continued like this, he would be suspected of betraying the Triad. _Control yourself, dammit._ Masking his slip up, he put a nonchalant expression dipped in warning. "Not your concern."

"True," Vinceres agreed, taking the hint. He _may _have softened up, but his demonic side still had a reputation that commanded respect. Instead, Vinceres diverted the conversation to other matters. "My only concern is the empath who cursed me, Father Thomas. And I know just where to track him down…"

Realizing what that would mean, Cole took the demon just before he was about to leave and shoved him up the wall. "No. I can't risk the witches finding you and reversing the magic."

"You forget who I was, before I was an empath, Belthazor," Vinceres seethed in anger. "I'm immune to their powers."

"Maybe… But you're not immune to mine," he countered.

This time, it was harder for Vinceres to relent on his pursuit, but Cole's gaze still carried a dangerous glint. He finally yielded. "Understood," he gritted through his teeth.

* * *

Prue was still trying to get her head around what had happened. One minute, she was talking to the receptionist insisting on an urgent appointment, the next, she felt like she'd gotten groped. With no one in sight to do so. Then, she had suddenly found everything hilarious and had laughed hysterically about… Nothing. Meanwhile on the next room, a woman was laughing because of laughing gas. _Maybe 'freeing an empath…'_

When she realized what might've happened, she rushed home, completely forgetting her appointment. On the way home, she had felt a kid's excitement over a new toy while she stopped for a stoplight. Walking up the steps of the Manor, the door opened before she could even get to the doorknob.

Cole was coming out. He paused when he saw her looking at her with a look she had seen before but couldn't place where. Ignoring it, she shrugged him off and walked straight to enter the house. _They must've just gotten back from lunch then… _Brushing past him though, she was overtaken by such an intense feeling, it made her gasp. Eyes wide, she looked back to watch him leave as she closed the door. Now she knew where she'd seen that look before. Her breath had hitched and the depth of the emotions making her world spin and her insides wanting to fly and fall at the same time.

Phoebe noticed her expression, and furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you okay?"

"I haven't felt… anything like _that… _since Andy was alive…" Prue answered, still breathless.

"Anything like what?"

Prue put her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heartbeat down. "Spinning into infinity… You know that…" she paused, sighing. "…head long, spiral that… steals your breath and stops your heart..?"

She was sounding like she had swallowed a cheesy poetry book, but there were really no other adjectives to describe this, this kind of frisson… The jolt you felt that made you giddy and happy all the time… She had noticed a slight bitter feeling of sadness somewhere in there, but the rest of his emotions had been _so_ intense, it was overwhelming.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Phoebe.

"Falling in love," she answered.

"_Falling in love..? _Prue, I just got dumped, okay? I'm trying to experience a break-up here!" Phoebe said. Reconsidering what her older sister had said though, she might as well ask. "Who's falling in love?"

"Cole," Prue answered, looking at her. _He's in love with her. Really in love with her. I can't mess with that. I know what these kinds of feelings make people do. They can make you do anything and everything for that one person. _There really was no contradicting that. She had felt this for Andy.

Phoebe chuckled. "Okay, You are _so _off-track," she said, not believing her.

Then at her words, Prue felt another jolt of frisson, this time coming from Phoebe. The attack to her senses left her breathless again. "Oooh! Wait… I felt that too. Your heart just jumped, and… I felt it!" she said looking at her younger sister, feeling like they were school kids again, accidentally blurting out the names of their crushes in public, back when guys still had cooties. "You're falling in love too!"

Okay, there was something definitely wrong.

"How did you kno- How did you do that?" asked Phoebe. The questions wouldn't come out of her mouth fast enough.

"Uh… I helped Vince?" Prue answered cautiously.

"_How _did you help him, exactly?" she asked.

"What's with the third degree?" her older sister asked back.

"Prue, just answer the question and tell me _how_," Phoebe answered, slightly exasperated at her dodging attempts.

Prue rolled her eyes. "Fine. I cast a spell to release his gift," she finally said.

Phoebe's eyes widened, and she turned around heading for the corridor into the kitchen. "We got a problem!" she called out to Piper and Leo. "Prue cast a spell to remove Vince's pain."

"Who's Vince?" asked Piper.

"The shut-in," Phoebe answered. "But, uh… I think, and call it a hunch… That it backfired and made Prue an empath."

"W-What kind of hunch?" asked Leo.

Phoebe pinched Piper. Piper and Prue both yelped in pain. "Ow!"

As customary of sisterly quarrels and force of habit, Piper slapped Phoebe back. "Oooh!" Phoebe squealed in pain, as did Prue.

"Uh-oh," Piper said, eyes widening. This was not good.

Seeing their looks of surprise, Prue tried to explain herself. "Uh, okay. I don't really know _how _it happened, alright? All I was trying to do was help an innocent." She paused looking at their faces. She was feeling something in the room she didn't like, their emotions speaking so much louder than their voices.

"What is that I'm feeling?" eyeing all of them. The clearest one was Leo's. "You. You're feeling fear. Spill it."

"I'm… I'm afraid that you're in danger," he answered, feeling like a target. "You weren't meant to receive this gift. You can't handle it."

_Can't handle it? Come on! I've always been an overachiever! Of course I can handle an extra power! _"Okay, you're looking at it all wrong!" she said. "I was guided to Vince, remember? Maybe I was _meant _to have this gift!"

"But Prue, you're not an empath," said Piper. "You're just a witch."

"Right, a witch whose powers come from her emotions, right?" she countered. "Look, I was looking for a power boost to fight Belthazor. Maybe this is it…" she trailed off, knowing that the feeling of scepticism still hadn't left the room despite her explanation. _All of them really good points by the way! _"Would you guys please stop being so negative?" her voice raising. Their emotions were getting to her and it was frustrating. _What, can I not be trusted with this power? _

"I didn't say anything!" said Phoebe. It was rather uncomfortable, this. Someone knowing exactly what you felt without even a word?

"Yeah, but I can _feel _all of your-" she said, though never finishing her sentence.

The microwave suddenly exploded, the fuse blowing up behind them and the glass a shattering all over the place. Piper and Phoebe shrieked at the sudden blast, their arms over their heads. The _were _used to explosions and the like, but you usually knew where they would be coming from.

"What was that?" Leo asked, startled.

Prue hadn't even been able to move. "I think I did it…" she said. "It's just that all of your doubts are screaming in my head! I-I've got to get control of this."

"The Book of Shadows. Maybe there's something about empaths," said Phoebe.

"Where are _you_ going?" Prue asked.

"To help you!" said Phoebe. Wasn't the answer obvious?

"Yeah, but you're dying to see Cole!" Prue answered. Phoebe's longing had been at the back of her mind during their whole conversation but it was almost as if _she _were longing for him too.

"Stop that! I did not say that!" said Phoebe. It was almost invasive, your sister knowing _everything._

Prue knew that this kind of pining could only be felt once. She'd learnt with Andy that you should never let it pass you by. If Phoebe was feeling this for Cole, and if Cole felt the same for her… Her own feelings could not come in between them. It would just not be right. She would have to give him up. What she felt wouldn't matter.

"Phoebe… Go to him alright?" she said, trying to sound confident in her voice. "I think you'll find him receptive." It was painful, but it _was _the truth.

"Prue, I can't… I need to stay here with you," she said. Prue knew she was only saying that out of duty. "D-Do you really think he'll be receptive…?"

Prue tried to smile her most sincere smile. "Yes," she answered. "Now, go get your man! He wants you!"

_Not me. _Phoebe gave her a hug and left. Having that sorted, Prue went out of the kitchen heading for the attic.

"We'll help you out," offered Leo as he and Piper followed her out.

"No, no, no, no…" said Prue. _There's just no way I'll be able to concentrate when Leo and Piper clearly need to have a Dr. Phil moment. _"Your guys' couple issues are really starting to hurt my head."

Leo looked uncomfortable. Piper looked at her blankly. "Wait… We have… _Couple issues_?" asked Piper.

"Resentment," she pointed at Leo. "Denial," she said pointing at Piper. "Be nice."

* * *

"_Prue, what are you doing here?" he asked. This was strange. It was late, why would she be here?_

_She had a determined look about her, like she was steeling herself for something. "I know what you are." _

_Her answer floored him. She knew. He had been discovered. She had come here to kill him. He had failed his mission. And even if she didn't vanquish him, the Triad would. His defence mechanism kicked in and he willed himself into transforming into Belthazor. Except he couldn't._

"_It's no use. You can't fight me. You don't _want _to fight me," she said, drawing him out with her darkened green eyes. How did she even know he had wanted to transform?_

_No matter. If he was nervous, he wouldn't show it. "What? Does the little witch want to play?" he taunted. _

"_I know you're afraid of me," she said. How the hell did she know these things? Last time he checked she wasn't a mind reader. And then it all clicked. Vinceres' curse. She had absorbed his empathy earlier that day. He felt even more vulnerable than before. Not physically though. He could throw a fireball at her without effort. And even without powers, he could easily overcome her with just pure raw force. No, definitely not. This was something else, something deeper. He felt like his soul had been ripped open and all its contents laid bare for her to peruse at her own amusement. It was a strange feeling, this thing about being vulnerable. He did not like it at all. She stepped closer to him, and he subconsciously stepped back. "You don't have to fight it. I know you want me too."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about," he said, naturally trying to hide despite knowing it would be pointless. Anyone would. It was a reflex, like breathing._

_She came in closer, her face inches away from his. There was really something about those eyes. The green shade of them bordered into grey, but this time, they grew darker. If they had been intense before, they were on fire right now. He had looked at her so intently, that the tiny little movement her eyes made to the side warned him there was something to come. The lamp that had hurled itself on to his right crashed within a couple of inches beside him onto the floor. He barely had any time to move before she was charging at him with an athame on her hand, ready to plunge._

_Conjuring up a fireball, he threw it at her, but her telekinetic powers threw it back at him and he shimmered, managing to dodge it just in time. He appeared behind her and grabbed her raised arm with the athame, hitting her wrist hard. She cried in pain, dropping the ceremonial dagger to the floor. Securing her other arm and pulling them down together and pushed her against the wall._

"_Did you really think you could kill me all by yourself, Prue?" he asked, slightly breathless with the effort, as whispered in her ear. Wisps of her hair tickled him, her scent enveloping with such a close proximity. He fought hard to concentrate and to ignore the effect that her breathing, laboured as it was while pressed against the wall, was doing to him whenever her back heaved and rhythmically touched his chest and the rest of his body. It would only take one little inch to lean in closer to her neck and it was oh so distracting. So great was his concentration that he was surprised by the piece of glass from the broken lamp that stabbed him in the back, drawing out blood. He cursed at the pain, slightly loosening his grip on her wrists. A mistake that caused him the leverage he just had a few moments ago._

_Moving fast, Prue pushed him and hurled him with her powers against the wall, making the piece of glass dig deeper into his back. She kept him there pinned against the wall. He struggled against her power, but he found himself powerless. This wasn't supposed to be happening. Why wasn't he as powerful as before? Had she gotten stronger? Had he gotten weaker? Nothing made sense. Any other time he would've been able to kill her within seconds. What was holding him back?_

_And then she did the last thing he thought she would do. After all the vanquishing potions, deaths and torture rituals he had managed to imagine in his head within the time she had taken to walk over to him across the room, death by kiss wasn't something he had had in mind. Her lips, soft and warm, had touched him with the lightest of caresses but the effect reverberated across his whole body. For a moment he didn't respond. He just stood there astounded and petrified, not knowing what to do. His eyes remained open not believing what was happening. Was she really kissing him? After all of that fighting? Was she under a spell? Was she really here? Were her lips really doing all of these wonderful things to him?_

_Feeling her telekinetic hold on him give out, he flipped them over and they exchanged positions, her body firm, but compliant. It was when he closed his eyes that he knew she had him. She could've killed him, mauled him over with an athame, done anything to him at that moment and he wouldn't have cared, as long as she didn't break away from this. He returned her kiss in full force, his lips wrestled with hers, relishing in the sweet battle. His head was spinning, feeling her fingers wrapping themselves at the back of his neck, nails lightly scratching his nape and running through his hair sending chills down his spine. He cradled her neck with his hands, pressing her mouth harder against him to deepen the kiss. And then his tongue flicked against her lips seeking entrance and he entered her mouth. The groan he let out came from the very depths of his soul. She was exquisite. Desperate, passionate, smouldering; it was everything in that moment. The taste of her tongue against his, his teeth nipping her warm lower lip, the fire within him running through every bit of his flesh. _

"_Cole…" she breathed. His name, on her lips. It was almost melodic. He responded with his mouth on her neck, nibbling and sucking on the spot right underneath her ear where her pulse raced a thousand miles per hour. It earned him a moan so guttural, he almost wanted to take her right there and then. _

"_Cole, Cole, Cole…" she repeated like a mantra. But with each call, the voice changed._

He opened his eyes. He stared down at another pair in front of him. This time, the eyes that met him were chocolate brown. Not green. "Phoebe…?" he asked.

She smiled. "You were moaning in your sleep. I thought you were having a nightmare…" she told him. "Are you alright?"

He oriented himself, and he remembered how Phoebe had come in earlier that night. It was her, not Prue who had come. _It was a dream…_

"Yeah, I'm alright. It was nothing… Thanks…" he whispered, drawing her closer to him. "Let's go back to sleep, shall we?"

She sighed her assent into his chest and fell back into peaceful slumber. He didn't.

* * *

It was torture. Pain. Pain. Excruciating pain. Everywhere. Anywhere. Wherever she stood, wherever she went, all the voices, all the emotions, all the people all their grief, anger, confusion, boredom, illusion, disappointment, jealousy, hunger… They all followed her and she couldn't escape. She couldn't take it. She didn't even know what _she _felt anymore. All she knew was that it was painful and it was all-consuming, like a thousand pinpricks across your whole body kept digging into you and those wounds were dipped in acid. What was worse was that it wasn't _just _physical pain, but emotional too. She didn't know whether her heart would be able to stand it anymore.

At first, it was the mild headache. She had been able to concentrate then, while looking through the Book of Shadows. But as hours passed, the subtle throbbing at the back of her head had given a monumental jump to the point where she thought she was going to pass out. The thing was, even when she had _wanted_ to pass out, she hadn't been able to. The attic had become too much to bear as it left her open to all these people's emotions: the couple across the street's argument had turned a little too violent, and it felt as if her jaw had been dislocated. People's daily stress, a kid scraping his knee while riding a bike, a baby's cry for his mother, their desires… She had felt _so _much that she had started not being able to distinguish between happy and sad. Everyone and everything was giddy and depressing at the same time. And that is why she retreated into the most isolated area of the house with the Book, trying hard to concentrate. In the end she had become a mess of emotions, rocking herself in place, much like Vince in that building. It was in this state that Piper and Leo had found her.

"Prue? What's the matter?" Piper asked. "What are you doing in the basement?"

She tried putting an order to her thoughts as she tried to speak in between sobs. "I-I… I was… trying to escape…" she said. "The emotions… They're-they're everywhere! I… I can't get away!"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"It's not just you and Piper! I-I'm… I'm picking up things from other people's houses!" she explained to them. Piper's feelings of fear and worry shot at her. "These… T-these people… And they're in my head- and they're in my heart… And it- It just hurts!"

Piper tried coming closer to her, her first instinct being to hug her and ease the pain a little bit. Prue jumped away from her, like she had gotten burnt. "No! Just.. _Stay away_, Piper! No contact!"

"Okay," Piper agreed, stopping on her tracks.

Prue curled up again, trying to calm herself down. "I-it's just _too _hard to _concentrate_! To even _talk_! I just want it to go away…" she cried. Sobbing even harder, she put her hands on her head, tearing at her hair. "My _head_! It feels like it's gonna _split_!"

The ceiling of the basement cracked as she screamed the word as if following her orders and threatening to crumble down over their heads. Piper and Leo jumped in surprise as bits of electrical wires and sparks flew in between them when the basement light broke and their feelings of fear making Prue even more unstable.

"_WHAT WAS THAT!_" yelled Piper.

Leo answered for her. "Her telepathic ability. The more she feels, the more powerful she becomes." It made sense, though the scene playing out in front of them suggested anything but powerful. _Okay yes, maybe powerful, more like a powerful emotional train wreck_, thought Piper.

"Alright! If this is a _gift_, we're returning it!" Piper said. "It was _not _meant for you."

* * *

Piper had ended up having to freeze the entire psychiatric ward. They had found Father Thomas, the empath who had given Vinceres his curse, but his anger at finding out that they had freed him when Prue took his power was too much. Prue had been so affected that the entire room had started to vibrate, wheelchairs started to smash against the walls, tables and easels turning upside down and falling, the TV floated up in mid-air and came crashing down onto the floor. _In a psychiatric ward. _Where the people with the most unstable emotions dwelled. The patients had become upset and it was multiplied tenfold in Prue's power. She was getting more powerful by the hour. Leo's depiction was quite accurate. It was a minefield and they had stepped on a huge landmine.

Now safely back in the Manor, they found Vince in the Book of Shadows.

"Here he is, _Vinceres_," Piper read, chuckling at the name. "Pretty much lives up to his gloss. Unstoppable hit man, just keeps going until he gets his target."

"Great! The energizer demon," said Phoebe. "So what do we do?" she asked looking at her sister and Father Thomas.

"Nothing," he answered dejected. "There's nothing you can do. It will find us and when it does, we're all dead."

Piper narrowed her eyes at him. Weren't people from the archdiocese supposed to be more cheerful than this? "Well, you're just a ray of sunshine, now aren't you?" she said sarcastically. Leo came into the sunroom, still looking worried. "Hey… Anything?"

"No. She won't say a word," he answered.

"We've gotta snap Prue out of this, or else he won't be able to reverse the spell when the demon attacks," she said.

"You _can't _reverse the spell," Father Thomas interjected. "Vinceres is immune to witches' magic."

Phoebe's eyebrows furrowed. "Hold on. Prue's spell worked."

"That's because the demon _allowed_ it to work to its own advantage," he pointed out. "You'll find your spells useless now."

This was harder than they thought. "Maybe we actually don't need to reverse the spell…" Phoebe suggested.

"What are you thinking?" Leo asked.

"Well, Prue's getting hit by emotions… _All _emotions. And her powers are tied to these emotions," she explained. "So maybe if she can figure out a way to channel them… Then she'd be pretty unstoppable herself, don' you think?"

It was a good idea, but really hard to picture when Prue could even barely speak. Let alone fight. "Is that possible?" asked Leo, looking at Father Thomas.

"From what I've seen, your sister is too far gone," he stated. "She won't live to see the night."

"Alright, that's _it_!" Piper snapped. She had finally had enough pessimism from this Father.

"Piper," said Leo, trying to calm her down, but she wouldn't.

"No. I am sorry, but this man has experienced the _entire _rainbow of human emotions and the best he has to give us is _self pity_? I don't think so!" she lashed out. She now directed herself to the subject of her anger. "Look. You used this power to stop this demon. Now my sister has _your _power. _Deal with it _and help us."

* * *

The dream haunted him the whole day. When Cole had seen Vinceres, he had known his pain. Though of course his sympathies for him were to the bare minimum, he had known he was being tortured day and night without a moment's rest. And it got stronger and stronger by the hour, hounding on you like an incessant hammer on your head. Vinceres was a demon though. He wouldn't have died. He would have just stayed like that for the rest of his miserable existence.

Prue on the other hand was _not _a demon. She was a mortal. A witch, yes, but a mortal nonetheless. She would not be able to survive for more than a day… A day and a half maybe, but not more. She was suffering right now, pain coursing through her body constantly.

There was a nagging feeling inside of him as well, and not just because he had basically given her an agonizing death sentence. Phoebe had just left this morning after spending the night with him. After their lunch date, he had decidedly backed out of trying to make things more complicated by following through the plan of pursuing the youngest sibling and killing her. Torturing to death the one that made him weakest was already enough for him. And taking down their most powerful link would be enough to destroy the Power of Three. He didn't need to watch their suffering either. What he needed was to drown all the confusion out by drinking a couple of drinks. Usually, he had never seen the need to. After a hundred years, all wine started to taste the same. This time, it was the only way he saw to stop thinking for a moment. The liquour tasted bitter in his mouth, just like everything else. Killing the Charmed Ones: What once would have given him pleasure and delight was now almost as excruciating as an empathic curse.

But then Phoebe had come unexpectedly and had kissed him… And it was like she had served him her head on a platter.

"_You have no idea what you're getting yourself into" he told her. _

_She didn't care. "Neither do you."_

At that moment he had not cared. His mind had whirled around the idea that he would be able to kill her and he would be able to succeed. Victory was right in front of him. With one swift move, he would be able to redeem himself from all that failure. He would be regarded as _the one_ who had been able to kill the Charmed Ones. It would be glorious, all the other demons would fear him and even the Triad wouldn't stand a chance. After all, it was _him _who had destroyed the Charmed Ones, right? But when the right time came, he didn't think. The drinks blurred his head. He had been thinking so hard for so long that whole day, carrying the worry that Prue might have been dead already that Phoebe's kiss had given him a chance to forget and not care about the world at all.

That was only for _that _moment though. Sleep was momentary and even in there he was tormented. The dream had confused him. She had wanted to kill him, and in his dream he would've genuinely tried to kill her too. Except he hadn't done it. He hadn't stabbed her the last time he had had the chance, when she had been right there in front of him, and he didn't do it this time either. And right now, he felt just as powerless and as weak as he did during his restless sleep.

Shimmering into the Manor, he had wanted to see her one last time. There would be no harm in it, he justified. She was going to die. He was going to leave. Everything would be over soon enough. Quietly going inside the kitchen, he waited for Leo to get out and join the sisters. Making an illusion out of himself, he changed his appearance into Leo's and went down the basement. Illusionment was something he had learnt a while ago, but he hadn't used it much. He still wasn't able to sustain the illusion or appearance long enough to be useful, but he wasn't going to stay there long anyway. Just enough to see her at least.

The scene in front of him broke the part of himself that had a heart. She was a mess. Smeared mascara under her eyes, her hair wild from her pulling, her eyes red blood-shot from lack of sleep and crying. She was just steadily rocking herself, curled up in a corner, staring into oblivion not even noticing his presence in the room. He shaded his emotions under his demonic side in case she would be able to reveal them, just like he was able to do before. _This would be so much easier if it weren't for her._ Pity and compassion, he hid them away. There was no use hurting her even more with his presence.

Stepping closer, she didn't look at him, didn't even flinch. His shading was working at least. He got as close to her as possible and kneeled down. He placed a hand on her back, at the contact, she instinctively jumped away backing into the corner even more with a sob. "No! Please don'!" she cried. "P-please… I c-can't. Please don't…" she begged.

Her eyes were wild. By the way she had jumped, he might as well have run razorblades down her back. Maintaining his appearance, he tried to bring to surface the empty numbness every demon had. The one that allowed them to do all the things they had to do without even an ounce of remorse or guilt. When he was sure he didn't feel anything at all but emptiness, he touched her back and tried to transfer all of that numb feeling inside of her, trying to overpower every other emotion struggling within her head and her heart. The agony in her eyes started to wane as her whole body started to relax. The muscles in her back loosened up and she stopped rocking herself, sitting completely still. The voices in her head faded, the emotions dying down to a mere hum inside her chest and her breathing came in deep breaths, instead of the painful gasps she had been taking the last 24 hours. Her eyes, those eyes that showed everything… Her eyes dimmed down with emptiness and her eyelids drooped down from exhaustion. She had numbing peace.

Prue was vaguely aware of what was happening. All she knew was that it had finally stopped. Everything had stopped and nothing else mattered but that. She was vaguely aware of the hand on her back. There were no voices anymore, no feelings of sadness or grief and pain. Nor was there happiness, laughter, joy or excitement. There was nothing. Nothing except that hand on her back. Looking to the side, he saw Leo sitting down beside her on his knees. She thought she should be grateful, but after so much, she couldn't even feel that. She would have to thank him later.

Cole's concentration was broken when he heard a noise by the kitchen upstairs. _They're coming down soon. _A momentary feeling of fear broke into his unfeeling focus and Prue felt it. _I have to get out of here. _

Looking at Prue nervously, her eyes started to wake. "Cole…?" Prue whispered.

His nervousness doubled. His illusion must've faded. He cursed in his head. He adjusted himself transforming into Leo again. "Prue? Are you alright? You're seeing things… It's me, Leo," he said with the most concerned voice possible.

"But I just saw-" she protested.

The noises at the top of the stairs were getting louder. He needed to leave. Before she could finish her sentence, he removed his hand away from her back, and the numbing cap he had placed around her disappeared. The emotions came rushing back in. She shrieked at the shock, her telekinetic powers reacting with what she was feeling. The light bulb that had been spared the last time she let go exploded into smithereens and the wooden beams above their heads supporting the house cracked even more almost caving over their heads.

Cole rushed for the stairs and shimmered out in the confusion just as Leo and Father Thomas came in. They never saw him leave.

* * *

"I _can't… _The _pain…_" she said. After the moment of rest, it had come back to her threefold. If she thought it was bad before, this time she just wanted to die.

"You're carrying a cross you were never meant to bear. I'm sorry," he said. _No don't be sorry, please don't be sorry! It hurts!_

"Your sorrow! I _can't… I can't take it_! Please…" she begged. Why would Leo do this to her, she didn't know.

Father Thomas was relentless. "You've been fighting what you feel… That's natural but it's wrong," he told her. "To find your strength as an empath, you must _embrace_ the emotion. Focus on me. The feelings are ripping you apart because you're fighting them like the demon did. A demon can't handle human emotions… You can."

"No, no, _no… _I can't! It's too much! T-there's too much…"

"Prue, take my hand," he asked her. Prue hesitantly did what he said. He felt calm, she didn't. "My power to ease human suffering lay in my hands. That's how I cursed the demon. You must channel the empathic gift into your power."

Prue sobbed. "I _can't_. I _can't _control my power…" she said defeated. It was true. She had been making things explode with her power for the last 24 hours.

"Prue you can do it," he encouraged her. "You have a once in a life time opportunity to feel the world's emotions. All it means to be human. The good and the bad. Don't be afraid."

_Don't be afraid, _the phrase echoing in her head. Remembering what had happened a few moments ago, that feeling of numbness and of peace, she tried to focus on that. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on ignoring all the other emotions tormenting her, all the conflict inside her head. It was hard. So hard. Taking a deep breath she steeled herself and felt them all, arranging them into pockets within herself. And then suddenly, she found the place she had been looking for. The one that was quiet and peaceful. The silence let her mind be still as she dealt with the groups of emotions one by one.

Opening her eyes, Father Thomas and Leo saw a newfound determination within her. Going up the stairs she found Phoebe getting strangled by the demon.

"Just tell me where the empath is and I won't kill you," he threatened her.

"You want him?" challenged Prue. "Come and get him."

Throwing Phoebe to the side, making her crash against the wall to join Piper, Vinceres advanced towards Prue who had Father Thomas behind her. Prue waved him off with her arm and he flew across the room and into the wall.

Vinceres was taken aback. The other two's powers had bare grazed him, why was this one going to be any different? "How'd you do that?"

"If you want the empath, you're gonna have to go through me," Prue said. Piper and Phoebe started getting up to back their eldest, but Prue stopped them. "Stay back, this is my fight."

Prue started attacking him. She _felt _the power of everything she was feeling, and right now she was channelling all the cold anger she had inside of her. She levitated herself with her own telekinetic power and gives him a few kicks as if she were just casually walking up the stairs. Casually was what it seemed like, but she wasn't even able to enjoy it… If she broke her concentration, she would lose control again.

When Vinceres didn't seem to be fazed by any of her efforts, she started punching him, using what she'd learnt from those self-defense classes all three of them had been taking since they'd started fighting demons. He blocked them all, just like she blocked his. Getting away from him, took hold of the stair railings and lifts herself up to run up the wall, doing a round over and going over the railing to kicking him in the face with the built up momentum.

He gets sent back, but rises back up again, without a single scratch. "You can't hurt me," he taunted. "I can handle your powers."

To prove his statement, he put his hands around her neck and started choking her, his force lifting her off the ground. Concentrating even more, Prue dug deep inside the well of emotions she had and channelled everything she got into her arm, using her telekinesis to give her strength a boost. _Come on, you can do it. _Slowly, she managed to pry the demon's hands off of her. Then using the same force, she flipped her entire body over him in a full 360 degree kick in the air. He started throwing punches over at her again as she systematically blocked them. Finding an opening, she pushed him over to the floor, only to have rise up yet again.

"I can handle your powers," he said.

_The feelings are ripping you apart because you're fighting them like the demon did. A demon can't handle human emotions… _Father Thomas' last sentence reverberated in her head. "Then what about pain?" she asked. "Human pain."

Just like all this time, she shifted her focus on the emotion and shoved it all in her astral projection. The projection went out of her and it jumped inside of him. She released all she had been feeling, all her pain, all the sorrow, the anguish, the happiness… Every single little bit of feeling she had been carrying within her from half of the city. Vinceres screamed in pain and combusted.

* * *

P3 was bustling again. After a 12-hour sleep, she had finally recovered from the exhausting emotional rollercoaster she had experienced. _Pfft, roller coaster? More like emotional spinning top of doom. _Everything had almost turned back to normal now. She and her sisters would just have to be more careful about the signs they received. _Man, that power boost was awesome! At least I know what my powers will be like in the future... _She smiled subconsciously, thinking about all the things her and her sisters would be able to do. Looking up, she saw Leo.

"Hey, Leo!" she called out from the couch. She had forgotten to thank him for helping her have a rest back in the basement.

"What's up?" he asked sitting down on the couch across of her. "How's the tooth?"

"Oh it's alright… If only Piper could do something about Novocaine," she said, sticking her tongue out. He chuckled. "I just wanted to say thank you!"

"Uh, okay?" he said a bit weirded out, trying to think what he had done that worth the commendation. "It was no big deal. I'm your Whitelighter, it's my job."

"Yeah, but I was having a really hard time, and if it weren't for the help you gave me that time in the basement, I don't think I would've even been able to do what Father Thomas told me to do," she said.

Leo looked at her, half-puzzled, half-flattered. It was good to be appreciated, but wasn't this a little too much? _I mean, I _did _help out. But half the time, I didn't even know what to do myself. _"It's alright, Prue. Really, don't mention it," he finally answered.

She smiled gratefully at him. "That thing you did with your hand on my back and numbing everything out was awesome!" she said.

"Uh… Prue, that wasn't-"

"Prue!" Piper called out from the bar. "Can you come here for a sec?"

Prue got up. "Looks like Piper needs a little help! Thanks again!" she said, heading for the bar.

"-but. That wasn't… Me…" finished Leo.

**A/N:** _Okay, here's the part where I'll need to ask you guys something. I kinda need people's opinions for the next chapter because I'm at a stall point and I don't want to take longer than I have to to write the next chapter, (which if you follow the season, it's _Power Outage_!). _

**_If you were travelling in a group of 5 people whom you didn't know, would you choose a 45-hour trekk where you all stay together, or would you go through the 3-minute easy path even if it meant leaving 2 of them behind? Whichever answer you choose, please answer why. Thanks!_**

_Oh and if you don't want to get asked, it's still awesome to review! The speed of my updating is directly proportionate to the amount of reviews I get. Tehee. ^_^_


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